Deserts of Kharak: the other side
by EarthBorn93
Summary: The events of Deserts of Kharak told from another point of view. Join Lady - Protector Khagaan as she combats the Nothern Coalition in an effort to save her people. Rated M for sake of safety.
1. Chapter 1, prologue The war to come

**Chapter 1; prologue; The war to come**

In a sand ridden plain surrounded by small rocky mountains just outside Dhaigren, the Dreamlands, the Gaalsien gathered. The place they gathered was barren land of sand, rock and heat like so much of their world was, a place that usually was devoid of human presence, save for the occasional communications antennae, the windmills that supplied the Gaalsien with power and vapor traps that collected what moisture there was for drinking water. This was a place that was death to those that came unprepared for its wrath, a place where none would venture without cause and none but the dead would linger once their cause no longer troubled them. And still the Gaalsien came, for their Kiith – Sa had proclaimed that he would speak to his people of a matter of great importance in this place. For four days they had been arriving, more of them arriving ever hour, until the people were stretching as far as the eye could see, a vast sea in a world that knew no true oceans except those of sand,. A hundred thousand men and women of the kiith Gaalsien, the ghosts of the desert. A hundred thousand of the faithful, the defenders of the ways of the Great Maker Sajuuk, the ways of humility, faith and repentance that the other kiithid of Kharak had so foolishly turned away from. All of the Gaalsien that could reasonably make the journey were there. Recordings would be made of the event to come for those who could attend in person, and many more would likely take personal recordings so that they could have a memento of this day of significance. A great gathering indeed. No doubt the heretical satellites the northerners had arrogantly lifted to the skies to look and spy upon them had alerted the heretics of this gathering of force. How fitting then, that their sin, the reason for their undoing, brought word of their impending doom.

The front rows were reserved for their soldiers, for this was their day, and the message that was to be given was theirs to hear first and foremost. They were present in great numbers, dressed in their green uniforms, many of them carrying rifles and other weapons of war even here. Their red and black machines of war littered the plain, carrying even more of the warriors of kiith Gaalsien on top of them. Together they numbered over thirty thousand, one in five of all Gaalsien, a great army even in the histories of war – torn Kharak, and thousands more lingered in outpost across their territories, keeping a watchful eye on their enemies. Thirty thousand swords had gathered, as went the old way of stating the number of warriors an army held.

This was the army that would bring the arrogant, profane North to its knees.

Each Gaalsien here knew why they had been summoned. It was obvious, because the cause had existed for a long time, and the response to that cause was inevitable. They were there because duty to Kiith and Kiith – Sa demanded they arrive when summoned, because they wanted to hear the words with their own ears, so they could believe and so they could say that they were there when the day came at last.

The day when the Gaalsien went to war.

On a rocky mountain were gathered the heads of the families of kiith Gaalsien. On the highest point of that mountain sat a lone figure, sitting on a red carpet suspended twenty or thirty centimeters above ground. Large pieces of red cloth had been arranged above and around the carpet as protection against the sun. The figure was dressed in an outfit that combined the traditional outfit of a Sa and the practical technology required to survive the deep desert: A white robe, black gloves and a black breathing mask that covered the features of the figures face. This was K'had Sajuuk, the prophet and voice of the god whose hand shapes what is and the Gaalsien – Sa. He spoke to his people, his voice echoing and repeating through loudspeakers installed across the plain:

"Noble and kind people of the desert, the North is suffering. Even now, as their cities thirst for water and their citizens choke on the encroaching desert sands, we seek only peace. Their ascent into space was a violation of the will of Sajuuk. Unchecked, they will bring his wrath down upon us all. War has been forced upon us. The North will know us now, no longer as brothers, but by counting the number of their dead. May there be peace on Kharak, once again."

With that the plain became alive with the cheering of a hundred thousand throats. One word was heard above all others, a name chanted by the people as they were filled with zeal and excitement: K'had, K'had, K'had! Again and again the name was sounded, the Gaalsien celebrating the glory of their mighty leader.

Some distance to the side stood a woman in a dark military uniform, a helmet with an inbuilt visor and a breather unit in the crook of one arm, surrounded by a number of other high ranking officers. Her hair was long and blonde, currently flying freely in the morning wind. Her skin was of a pale tone, a feature that would have been unusual anywhere else on Kharak, but not among the Gaalsien. It was the result of generations of living indoors, away from the sun and the murderous heat of the great banded desert. Her name was Khagaan; her rank was that of lady – protector. Lady – and Lord –protectors were among the highest ranking Gaalsien officers, those who were in charge of Gaalsien combat formations of several carriers. The northerner equivalent rank would have been that of an admiral. She closed her cold, hard eyes, leaned her head back and listened to her people cheering in unison, a smile on her lips. There was such power in this moment, of people uniting in action. It was worth going to war to witness such a moment.

Turning her head, she could see that K'had had stood up and was coming her way. "Walk with me" he said to her as he passed, and she turned to follow, matching his pace. The other high ranking officers followed a respectful distance away. Their turn to speak with their Kiith – Sa would come, but this moment was reserved for these two alone.

"Were my words to your liking?" he asked her as they walked.

"Very much so" replied Khagaan, "though I must admit some surprise".

"Oh?"

With a nod, Khagaan, continued:" We go to war with the Kiithid of the North, as we have cause to. They after all blaspheme against Sajuuk and would doom us all with their arrogant ways. However you claimed that we only sought peace, even though it was we who declared war upon them. You expressed a desire for peace to return even as you ordered a war to begin. Pardon my lack of understanding, but saying one thing and doing another seems contradictory. So why phrase yourself as you did? Do we not seek the destruction of the North for their sinning? "

Sighing to collect his thoughts, K'had responded: "No, we seek not the destruction of the North, but their salvation. The Kiith clans of the North are still our people. They have been misled, and they have misled themselves. To save this world, they have to be returned to a proper course. Slaughter might be necessary to force their eyes open, but we do so that Sajuuks anger might be avoided, and those that survive might go on living, this time as our creator willed it to be. The Gaalsien banner might lead the remaining faithful of this world, but it was never meant to stand as the lonely banner in the desert. Rather we must lead the banners of other Kiith back to his light, so that they might all reflect his gentle luminescence, cleansed and free of sin. Annihilation is not what we seek. You have ever been a warrior, Khagaan. Long have you defended our lands against the ambitions of the North. Because of this you see their kind as an enemy that you must crush. Your warrior heart shines through, as always, and it shall carve a path through the darkness to victory. Yet now you must be more than a warrior. You must understand that our true enemy is, and has ever been, the arrogance of the northerners. It is this enemy that we must promptly crush, before fire falls from the heavens. It is a sad truth that arrogance is a sickness that dwells in the hearts and minds of men and women, and cannot be driven out with words alone. To drive out arrogance from its throne in the North, many must be silenced forever, but we shall grieve for each that falls, for we are teachers that seek to shock our disciples awake from their slumber of lies, so that the truth might be made known to them. And this is how I can wish for peace while declaring a war. As I said, war is an action we are forced to take for the good of all. But peace is what I truly desire: a lasting peace, guided by Sajuuk's commandments."

"I see", Khagaan said, her expression thoughtful, "it's difficult to think of them this way, though I have heard of similar statements from others of our Kiith. And what shall be my task in this war to save them from themselves?"

"You shall lead your strike force against the bases the northerners have established beyond the frontier wall, in our territory. Attend to the destruction of those bases and vanquish all enemy forces you find within." "My decision disappoints you?" K'had asked after noting her expression.

"I…had hoped to lead my forces to breach the frontier wall itself, or strike beyond it, against Tiir or one of the other great cities of the north" Khagaan admitted. "The destruction of these bases is of value, this is true, but it is not where the decisive battles of this war will take place."

"Your wishes are understandable, but this matter may prove to be far more important. Indeed, it may be that the invasion of the North is but a sideshow of this conflict. We have learned of an expedition deep into our territories being planned, similar to the one that was attempted earlier. This is what prompted us to go to war. Five new carriers are at the heart of this expedition force, currently housed within the bases you are to destroy. Those carriers must never reach their destination. You must also discover the expeditions intended target, what it is and most importantly where? Only after this is done are you to join the offensive against the North"

"And what of the prisoner we took from the prior expedition, Jacob S'jet I believe he was called?" asked Khagaan. "He likely does know where the expedition is going; assuming of course the target of the two expeditions is the same one."

"He likely possesses that information, yes" agreed K'had, "However my interrogators assure me that for the time being he has told us all that he is going to. To push him further might kill him. His secrets benefit no one in the grave. Besides, in this matter I cannot rely on the word of a man that has every reason to lie to us. Word has reached my ears from families still loyal to us. They tell me that the goal of the enemy expedition might be none other than the site of Khar – Toba itself."

"The first city of Kharak, the sacred place where Sajuuk brought us after our downfall of pride? Could it be true? Could they have found it?" Khagaan asked, amazed.

"That is what you must discover" replied K'had. "If it is true, then we must act on this discovery".

Khagaan stopped, turning to face the Gaalsien – Sa, taking his arm as she did, her expression one of awe. "So not only am I to stop the expedition that started all this and prevent the violation of the holiest place we know, but I am also to bring you its location, the place where it has been said you can ascend to rule over all of Kharak?" K'had simply nodded in response. She went to one knee. "Truly I am honored! I am honored beyond words! I apologize for my earlier misgivings. I am hardly worthy of being given such a great mission to undertake".

Laughing, K'had spoke again: "Rise. Rest assured that you are worthy of this. All the responsibilities you have claimed for yourself, you have earned through your actions. You are the mightiest of my warriors and the most devout of my followers. I know with certainty that you will make me proud in this war, as you have always done, ever since the day you were born. Truly Sajuuk has blessed me to grant me such a fine and loyal daughter."

Smiling, Khagaan lifted up the hood of her uniform, pushing her long hair under the hood with the other arm, and then she donned her helmet. Her next words came through distorted by the helmet's inbuilt speakers, giving her voice a strange electronic tone, like listening a machine speak: "I shall bring you glory father. You and our Kiith"


	2. Chapter 2, And ever we fight on

**Chapter 2; And ever we fight on**

The crew compartment of the bomber shook slightly as it made its way to Khagaan's defense carrier, the Ashoka. While bombers were obviously primarily designed to attack ground targets, they could also be used to transport small groups of people between destinations. It was not a comfortable ride by any standard, but airlifting remained, as ever, the fastest method of getting from point A to point B. Sitting on a row of seats on the right hand wall of the crew compartment, Khagaan raised her hands to the sides of her head, groaning slightly. While she was usually comfortable in travelling, there was something about the way airborne vehicles moved that always caused her some nausea. The fact that she was still wearing her helmet was not helping matters in the slightest. Briefly she considered taking it off, but she decided against it. Combat pilots as a breed were talented, dedicated people, but the concept of "bumpless flight" seemed to be completely beyond their limited understanding. Surely the innate stuffiness of the helmet was preferable to a potential skull fracture. Finally the pilot announced that the carrier was within visual range and the bomber tilted as it started the final approach. The crew compartment had no windows, so Khagaan could not see the approach, but she could hear the firing of landing thrusters as the bomber slid into its docking slot inside the cavernous hold of the carrier, bathed in red light. She could feel the shudder as the bomber touched down and hear the brief burst of indistinct radio chatter as flight control confirmed the bombers docking. "My thanks for our safe arrival, pilot", she casually shouted towards the cockpit as she stood up and made her way towards the exit. "My pleasure, lady – protector" came the pilots muffled response as Khagaan stopped before the airlock of the bomber. Stairs were brought to the door, and she stepped outside. For a moment she stood on top of the flight of stairs looking around. In the red light of the hold she could see various vehicles, aircraft and ground vehicles both in various part of the hold and members of the crew performing their tasks among them. Cargo lifts were moving materials and machines between the various subdecks of the hold. Off in the distance she could see the complex machinery of the ships main construction yard. The construction facilities were a true marvel of engineering, able to construct whatever technology the Gaalsien onboard required. Using phased assembler arrays, sophisticated multi – tasking computers and fully automated assembly lines, any ship in their mighty fleets could be assembled in mere minutes, from the humble sand skimmer to the mighty honor guard cruiser, so long as there were sufficient raw materials in their stores. What could not be made by the carrier itself could be built by the many production cruisers that were part of the Ashoka's fleet. The only downside was that their enemy, the Northern Coalition had access to the same technology. Even here, their respective forces were evenly matched, as they had ever been. "At home again" Khagaan thought as she looked at the sight before descending the flight of stairs.

She made her way across the hold to an elevator that would take her to the main command bridge. As she walked past them, members of her crew paused in their duties, stood at attention and saluted her. She returned their salutes, although her salute was rather sloppy in comparison. She was tired from an entire day spent travelling and she had always been of the opinion that posturing became unnecessary once the power hierarchy had been clearly established. Thus she was less demanding in matters of protocol when it came to those of her crew who had served on the Ashoka for a long time (herself naturally included), but more strict with new arrivals. The elevator brought her to the command centre, and soon she was looking at the sight she had become familiar with over many years. A soldier of the infantry on guard duty near the door announced her arrival as she entered, which she immediately waved off, and everyone on the bridge went back to work. This area was less blindingly red in its lighting, although red was still the predominant color besides the dull grey of the bulkheads, thanks to the numerous holographic displays that were present all over the command deck. The command deck consisted of two levels. The lower level was the main command section that housed the command consoles for navigation, communications, sensors and weapons. At the centre was the commander's chair where she usually sat, directing her carrier and the forces assigned to her. Above that area, perhaps five meters higher, was the main flight control and observation deck. Both areas had windows on their outer walls so that the crew could see outside, although the carrier naturally relied primarily on its sensors as its eyes. Numerous ladders allowed movement between the two levels, and a small cargo lift existed in the left hand corner of the command bridge. Her crew was all over the place in similar uniforms and helmets as she herself was wearing. Near the commanders chair was standing a man she knew to be Arraesh, the captain – Defender of the Ashoka. He was the commander of the carrier in her absence, her chief advisor and second in command, and an old, dear friend from their mutual training years. He turned to address her, his voice welcoming despite the distortions of his helmet: "Lady–Protector, good to see you again. Under her helmet, she smiled: "Likewise captain–defender. How are our preparations coming?" His back straightening, he cleared his throat and responded: "All members of the crew have been accounted for; fuel and water tanks have been filled up; all equipment and initial construction resources have been loaded. We're ready to begin final readiness check at your discretion.

"Excellent. Let's get to it then", Khagaan said. She turned on the communications control unit to give a ship wide broadcast: "all decks, all stations, all call signs, this is Lady–Protector Khagaan speaking. Check readiness and stand by to report status. The bridge swayed a little as the carrier's hover technology changed from passive standby mode to full readiness, and the carrier lifted several dozen meters off the ground. After a few moments Arraesh turned to speak to her again "Ma'am, I believe we are ready to begin."

Nodding, Khagaan began the readiness inspection: "Communications, status report?"

"Diagnostic is complete, all systems check out, internal and external communications are online, no anomalies detected. Communications are go, Lady – Protector." announced guardian Kennae. She was a new arrival, fresh out of training, only recently assigned to the Ashoka as a communications officer.

"Navigation?"

"Control systems are online and functioning properly. Travel waypoints have been programmed; we're ready to move out on your order. Navigation is go, Lady–Protector." said their helmswoman, guardian Jiire. She was another old friend of Khagaan's. Jiire had always had always wanted to be a fighter pilot, but had never qualified due to her poor eyesight, so she had done the next best thing and trained herself as a carrier driver. Khagaan had pulled some strings to get her assigned to the Ashoka.

"Sensors?"

"All sensors are online, no anomalies detected. Sensors are go, lady – protector." This came from guardian Harkath. He too was a new arrival, brought in as a replacement after their prior sensors officer had been killed in action. He was still adjusting to his position, but was already proving to be a worthy replacement.

"Weapons?"

"Weapons are loaded, manned and operational. Weapons are on standby mode until further notice. Weapons are go, lady – protector" stated guardian R'kath, by far the oldest member of the command crew, being between fifty or sixty years of age. He was still excellent shape considering his years. He had been a field officer in the Gaalsien infantry forces until a combat injury had seen him reassigned to command duties. He was competent enough, but it often showed that he missed fighting on the ground.

"Flight deck?"

"Flight deck systems are functioning normally. All fighter squadrons and bombers have reported in. Monitoring crews are present and at their posts. Flight and observation deck is go, lady – protector" reported guardian Ziel. Of him Khagaan knew very little, as they interacted less than the rest of the command crew.

Clicking on a switch on her communication unit, Khagaan addressed the next person on the list: "Engineering, status report?"

"All primary systems are in the green. Power shunting system is online, ready to process orders. Main construction yard is fully operational. Engineering is go, lady - protector" replied guardian Scotha, their chief engineer, answering in his usual thick accent. Where in the Gaalsien territories he had grown up to pick up an accent like that, she had never discovered.

"Lady – protector, medical deck has reported in, they're go" announced Kennae after listening to her helmet speakers for a moment.

"Field unit status?" Khagaan asked of Kennae.

"Standby, reports are still coming in." answered Kennae. Several moments of silence followed. "All field units of the carrier have reported in, they're at full readiness, Lady-Protector." she said finally.

Arraesh spoke up next: "All critical sections have reported in, carrier Ashoka and all assigned field units are at full readiness, Lady – Protector"

"Very good" Khagaan nodded, pleased. "Contact the other carriers. Readiness checks are to commence, carriers are to report status when checks are complete"

"Aye, aye" replied Kennae and proceeded to comply with the orders Khagaan had given. A long silence ensued as the other carriers went through their checks. Finally Kennae began to speak: "Renza is ready…..Ashinta is ready….Arrakesh is ready….Vashti is ready. The task force is ready, lady – protector!"

"All right," replied Khagaan, "communications, all task force units to assume convoy formation and follow us out. Navigation, plot course for waypoint one and engage main drive"

"Aye, lady – protector, course set for waypoint one, engaging main drive" replied Jiire.

"Guardian Kennae, please patch me through to the entire task force" Khagaan said next standing up as she did. "Aye" Kennae replied and after pressing several buttons on her keyboard she continued "You're on, lady – protector, go ahead."

Khagaan began to speak, her voice echoing in the loudspeakers installed across the Ashoka; transmitted to all the carriers and fleet units of the mighty task force:

"My brave, brave warriors. Today we set out on a mission to defeat the Northern coalition once and for all, and save our world from destruction. We shall descend upon their forward bases with holy fury, while the rest of our mighty navy shall shatter their precious frontier wall, and through conquest, claim their vile capital. We shall **crush** the heretical expedition our foes would use to conquer our lands. Through so doing, we shall claim the key for the ascension of our Kiith – Sa, so that he might reign over Kharak as the voice of Sajuuk, as is his destiny. We are the knights of the desert, the flaming spear of faith that shall pierce the hearts of the unholy! Through our wrath, their darkness of the Northern reign will be shattered forever! Through our duty, Kharak shall belong to the faithful! Through our valor, this world shall be saved from the flame! Through our actions, we will show our creator that the people of this world are still his people! Through our will, the kiith of Kharak shall never again stray from **his** teachings! Sajuuk willing, this shall be the **last** war on Kharak. By the end of this war, all who are Gaalsien shall forever more be known as heroes, as saviors, as warriors that brought peace eternal to a world at war! In that **I** have never been more honored to lead you, to say that **I was there** when it all began! So now I say, go forth and carry out the **will** of our creator! Bring that will to the very **heart** of the North! Bring **peace** to Kharak! SAJUUK BE WITH US!"

The bridge erupted in cheers and shouts of "Sajuuk be with us". It was likely the crews of the other carriers were responding in much the same way. Khagaan sat back in her chair, radiating authority like a triumphant empress.

After roughly half an hour of driving across the desert, a thought occurred to Khagaan. She turned to talk to Kennae once again: "Communications, do we still have the Coalition transmission frequencies on file?"

"Confirmed, we still have those frequencies available. Be advised, with the updated enemy encryption those channels are now send only."

"That's alright guardian Kennae, sending was what I had in mind. Stand by to record a message from me, visual and audio recording. Afterwards send the message on all available Coalition channels, flag it as a critical urgency message if you can. It's time to let the North know they're at war."

"Lady–Protector, I'm ready to begin recording". Kennae said after a few moments. Recording begins in…you're ready? ...in 3…2…1… go.

Taking a deep breath, Khagaan began to speak:

"Attention kiithid of the North. I am Khagaan, of the kiith Gaalsien; servant of the mighty K'had Sajuuk." The computer before her reacted to her words and flashed a recording of the Gaalsien – Sa on the screen. "For generations, you have violated the first commandment of our creator, by entering into space." The recording on the screen changed into another one depicting a satellite launch in progress. "You seek the stars. Now you invade our lands for a second time. Diplomacy has failed. We can tolerate this no longer." The recording changed once again to one showing a skull mounted on top of a stake. "The suffering of this war will be nothing compared to the wrath of Sajuuk." "Long live the People of Kharak" she added, remembering her father's words.

"Ending recording. Transmitting" Kennae said, sensing that Khagaan had said what she had to say. "Message sent, lady – protector" Kennae said after a few moments.

Placing a hand on Khagaan´s shoulder, Arraesh leaned closer to speak to her: "With a speech like that, I think half of the North just browned their trousers"

"Just half the North? Aw, how unfortunate, I had hoped for so much better results." Khagaan replied with mock disappointment in her voice.

Chuckling, Arraesh continued: "Then perhaps we should give a practical demonstration as well?"

"That we will, Captain – Defender," Khagaan replied, her attention turning to the landscape visible through the windows "that we will".


	3. Chapter 3, Sand duels and loss

**Chapter 3; Sand duels and loss**

A Gaalsien soldier named Ramien was lying flat on his stomach, peering over the lip of a dune with a pair of binoculars. It was nighttime, the desert now cold and dark and quiet. Another soldier named Giannel lying on her back a little further down the slope of the dune glanced at him. "What ye seeing boss?" she asked in a hushed tone so as to not draw enemy attention

"Looks like Coalition infantry guarding a transmitter, ten or so, a pair of LAV's as well." Ramien replied, adjusting the settings of his binoculars, observing the glowing orange shapes that the binocular's thermal vision showed him. "Ah, dammit I think they have a scanner set up as well."

"A Scanner?" Ginnael repeated, concern in her voice

"Don't worry, I don't think they can detect us, we're on foot and we only have a few electronics with us. Our ship though…"

After observing the Coalition position for a while longer Ramien finally slid cautiously down from the lip of the dune. "Ok, let's get back; I think we've seen all we need to for the time being" He said to Ginnael.

With that the two of them left the area, slowly crawling at first, and later, when they became convinced they were a safe distance away, they stood up and walked the rest of the way.

"Damn I hate these nighttime scout OP's, it's freezing out here!" Ginnael complained bitterly after they had been walking for awhile, shivering and rubbing her fingers in a vain attempt to keep them warm.

"Oh please it's not that cold" Ramien argued in a light tone.

"No? Ye hotbloods have it so easy. Spill some of yer red on the sand, ye would turn the damn stuff to glass, I swear. But poor old me? It feels like my fingers are getting eaten right out of my hands! Gillaen answered.

"It is a scientifically proven fact that current temperatures are well within the tolerance range of human physiology." Ramien stated with a false voice of assertiveness.

"Who cares about scientific anyway? If it feels cold, it's bloody cold. Now **that** is a Sajuuk blessed fact that is." Ginnael muttered.

"But if it feels cold to you but not me that makes the matter relative. So that means that from my point of view it's not cold at all. So maybe the solution is just to see things my way?" Ramien offered helpfully.

"Oh shut it."Ginnael said in half-serious annoyance after a moment of looking confused. "Ye learned types, always mincing words…" she grumbled.

"And then there is the hour we do these things." she continued after a moment of silence.

"Well, a successful infantry scouting mission requires the cover of darkness, and you may not have noticed but that's usually available at nighttime". Ramien answered playfully.

"Unfortunately" Ginnael replied dryly "still, ye have to admit that this is not natural. Any normal person would be asleep at this hour. At least if you were in decent places where people still sleep at night."

"We're not **in** decent places, soldier" Ramien commented.

Ginnael made an amused snort "Guess not".

And so they went, on and on, bickering between each other as was their custom, about this and that, of nothing in particular. It was a game of theirs, a part of their partnership, something they had done for as long as they had known each other.

It took almost half an hour of walking to make it back to their ship, but finally it was in front of them. It was one of the Gaalsien assault ships, currently on the ground and unpowered to avoid detection. The two of them clambered inside to the cramped confines of the ships, where the other two other members of their crew, T'rel and Adrimas, were waiting.

"So, what did you find?" T'rel asked when he noticed them enter.

"Trouble, as usual," Ramien said in response "listen up and we'll fill you in on the details".

Some moments later all four of them were gathered around a map as Ramien explained the situation.

"So we are here" he said, pointing to the appropriate area of the map "we were scouting around this area over here, and we came across a Coalition sentry post."

"How many?" asked Adrimas.

"A pair of LAV's and full squad of infantry, guarding a scanner and a long range transmitter."

"That's all?" T'rel asked, surprise in his voice.

"Well, that was all we could see. Hopefully that is all there is, but you never know." Ramien answered, then continued his briefing.

"Now, the combination of a scanner and a transmitter makes this a tricky situation. Our ship can handle the enemy forces there, but with the scanner they can see us coming for sure and would alert their main base of our presence. If we were making another hit and run raid that wouldn't matter of course; we'd be in and out before they could react, but with the Ashoka coming through we can't have the enemy main base be alerted to our presence. For the same reason we can't just ignore this either. The Ashoka is even easier to pick up than we are, obviously. If that happens, the enemy will be prepared and the main fleet will have a hellish fight on their hands tomorrow. So that post will have to go, and with the rest of the fleet less than a day away we can't wait either. It has to happen tonight and it has to happen in a manner that they can't get word out."

"But if we destroy the post wouldn't they realize that something is wrong anyway? They have to have their outposts check in regularly." Adrimas arqued.

"Eventually" agreed Ramien "but by the time they've figured out what has happened and responded, it should be too late, the damage done and our fleet in striking position. Anyway, it is better than doing nothing."

"So how do we go on about doing this? Do we go in as infantry?"T'rel asked next.

"No, we'd never survive the odds, even if we got the jump on them." Ginnael said, shaking her head. "Were going to need the ship if we want to win. We just have to figure out how to get it past the scanner."

"Agreed." nodded Ramien. "I believe a combined approach is what is needed here. So what we're going to do is this: we take the ship as close as we dare, I'm thinking behind this ridge of dunes right here." he said, pointing a region on the map. If we move slowly and with only partial power we should be able to avoid detection long enough to get into position. Meanwhile two of us will be going in on foot. Ginnael and I know the terrain best, so we're it. We'll be bringing rockets with us, and we will start the fight by taking out the transmitter and doing as much damage as we can. With the transmitter down, I don't think they have another communication system powerful enough to transmit all the way back to their home base. When the shooting starts the two of you bring in the ship and blow the whole area to Sajuuk. We won't be able to survive long against that kind of firepower, so you have to move pretty quick, and you have to bring the ship from partially powered to fully operational in that timeframe, so it's going to get a little bit tricky. I trust you two can handle driving this crate by yourselves?"

"Sure, with me doing the driving plus shooting and Adrimas handling the scanners and coms, it's going to be no trouble." T'rel chuckled.

"Good. Then if everyone is clear on the plan and nobody has any questions, then I guess we should get out there and get this done, while darkness lasts." Ramien said, giving everyone an encouraging smile.

Before the crew set out, they made the necessary preparations, checked the ship systems one last time to ensure that everything was working as it should, and ate a quick meal of onboard rations and water. During this period the crew remained mostly silent, only talking when it was necessary, too nervous and lost in their own thoughts to joke or chat. Finally all that needed to be done was done, and the crew of four went into action. Ginnael and Ramien exited the vehicle and headed back to the location they had retreated from some half an hour ago. This time their assault ship trailed a good distance behind them, moving slowly, trying not to lift dust into the air and with the minimum of power that was needed. They kept to the shallows between dunes and points of cover whenever possible to shield themselves from scanners and visual detection.

After another half an hour of walking they were back were they had been sometime earlier, Ginnael now positioned some distance to the right of Ramien. They carefully placed their rifles to the sand within their reach, laying them on bolts of cloth to prevent sand from getting into the gun barrels or mechanisms. Then they took the rocket launchers into their hands, beginning to make them ready to fire. Ramien peered cautiously over the rim of the dune, then whispered to Ginnael: "You take out the transmitter, I'll take the LAV to the left". It went without saying that if Ginnael missed, Ramien would fire the next shot at her target instead. Ginnael nodded her understanding. After a few moments she gave him a thumbs up to tell him she was ready to fire.

"Up" commanded Ramien. With that they lifted the launchers on their shoulders and just above the lip of the dune, disengaging the safeties of the launchers as they did.

"Ready" Ginnael said in a sharp tone that spoke of intense concentration.

"Destroy!" shouted Ramien.

Ginnael pressed the trigger of her weapon, and a streak of white and golden light flashed in the night, accompanied by a loud roar, followed by a yellow fireball erupting at the center of the Coalition positions. The transmitter blew apart, the delicate instrumentation suddenly exposed to the fury of an armor piercing rocket. Ramien waited for half a heartbeat to see if Ginnael's shot had connected, then fired his own launcher, hitting one of the LAV's on the nose, their shots less than three seconds apart. The force of his shot was tremendous. What was left of the nose of the LAV that he had shot was flung upwards, the machine balancing on its rear wheels for a moment, then clumsily tumbling sideways onto the sand, the fuel catching fire as it landed.

While still confused and somewhat uncoordinated, the Coalition infantry soon began to respond to the attack, filling the night with flashes and loud barks of assault rifle as the northerners returned fire. Ramien quickly grabbed his own rifle and sighted down on one of the dark silhouettes in the gloom of the burning LAV. After a few moments of aiming he squeezed off a shot, his gun giving a slightly duller metallic bark than that of the northerner guns, and one of the figures collapsed. It did not get up again. Beside him Ginnael fired her gun as well, and another enemy fell. They continued in this manner for a while, exchanging fire with the Coalition soldiers. In the darkness of the night it was extremely difficult to score hits, but both sides were giving it their best attempt, firing at the muzzle flares of the other side, making the opposing combatants flinch and curse at near misses. As they recovered from the initial surprise, the response of their enemy became more and more organized, and the fire against the positions of the two Gaalsien soldiers grew more intense. They began to work in pairs, one firing shots of suppressing fire while the other advanced to a new point of cover. One soldier rushed forward, making to throw a grenade at their position. Ramien and Ginnael both saw him and their guns spat several volleys of death at him and he fell over in mid run, the grenade in his hands rolling away without exploding, although Ramien could not be sure whose kill it was. The turret of the surviving LAV turned, orienting itself toward them. Two balls of strobing white light appeared in the darkness, raising hundreds of small puffs of sand into the air all around them, forcing the both of them to hug the dune or be riddled with holes.

It was then that Ramien heard a very familiar humming sound coming from behind him and his mouth spread into a wide toothed grin. Their ship had arrived at last! From the shouts of alarm he could hear it was obvious that their enemies had noticed the situation as well (as if their ship was hard to notice in the first place).

Before anyone could say or do anything further, the ship opened fire, spitting a storm of high explosive shells into the air, the northerner positions disappearing in a cloud of dust and shrapnel, illuminated by flashes of light within the cloud. When the rumble of explosion finally ceased Ramien carefully raised his head from the ground to take a look at the results, the details revealing themselves as the fog of dust dispersed. The remaining LAV had been blasted to pieces, only the blackened, twisted skeleton of its frame remained. The bodies of the heretic foot soldiers were nowhere to be seen, although he could just make several dark stains in the night at roughly were they had been. Liquefied by the explosions he realized, astonished. He had seen it happen before, but each time he was just as disturbed and amazed by the sheer strength of modern weapons as he had been the first time. For a moment a stunned silence reigned, broken only by the soft humming of their assault ship.

Ginnael was the first to react. "Yeah, that got em!" she shouted, standing up raising a fist into the air, cheering. Ramien could not help but smile at her enthusiasm. She always had been full of energy that one. He too stood up and addressed the other members of his crew: "Nice timing guys, and good shooting! Adrimas, are we clear?"

"Yes, sir, I'm not seeing anything else out there." Adrimas said, sounding insufferably smug like he often did after a successful battle. "Looks like the mission was quick, dirty and one-sided, just how I like them." Ramien was about to respond when he spoke up again, the lightness gone from his voice: "Hold on… correction to the last, a new contact just entering sensor range, IFF says hostile ground contact, coming bearing north-northwest, coming in towards our position. Looks like a type four contact based on the ping."

Type four meant a contact of roughly the size of their own ship, an AAV, a missile launcher, or even…

Quickly Ramien turned to speak to Ginnael: "Gin, get down, type four incoming" he said in a hurried tone, never realizing he had used her nickname, something they avoided doing outside crew leave because of mutual agreement. She did not realize it either, but instead sprang into action, getting on the ground as she had been told. Ramien did the same, taking his binoculars to his hands, looking into the direction Adrimas had said the new contact was coming from.

Beside him, Ginnael gave him a look of startled worry. "That better be an AAV. Tell me that's an AAV!" she said, hoping against all hope.

"No, that's…" Ramien said, the words stolen from his throat as a wave of coldness washed over him. He recognized the design: the relatively low, compact hull on a trio of treads with the enormous long barreled turret on the top, glowing softly with blue light. In the gloom he could see the human shapes, advancing in a single line on both sides of the vehicle. Even as he saw this the light of the gun-barrel began to grow brighter. There was an electronic buzz in the air that rapidly rose in pitch as the gun built up the charge to fire.

"Railgun! Evade! Ev…" he had time to shout to his radio before the gun fired, stealing the air from his lungs. There was a flash of blue-white light followed instantly by a thunderclap as the shot passed overhead. A blast of air hit him like a curtain, threatening to take him with it. The visor of his helmet cracked and broke, the internal diagnostics lights flickering out. If not for the inbuilt electronic sound suppressors of their helmets, both he and Ginnael would have been deaf and senseless afterwards, their eardrums ruptured by the change in air pressure. The shot had overshot their ship, impacting into the sands somewhere in the distance.

With an angry motion Ramien tore the broken visor from his face, tossing it on the sand, leaving him with the helmet proper and his radio. "Save the ship, we'll catch up! Go, go, go!" he shouted into his radio waving at them to get them to leave. Either they heard him or they decided to leave on their own because their assault ship rapidly retreated, seeking cover behind other nearby dunes.

"What are we going to do boss!?" Ginnael asked of him.

"Get your launcher reloaded!" he commanded as his answer, already beginning to work on his own launcher.

Ginnael looked confused: "What… ye don't mean…with rockets? The armor is too thick! We might as well be trying to kill it with coarse language!"

"I know, but if we want to get out alive we have to try something don't we!?" he replied.

"Guess so, damn it all!" she said, taking her launcher into her hands. "Sajuuk, as tests of faith go, this one is outright unfair you know!" she shouted to the sky angrily as she reloaded her weapon. "Set!" she shouted after a few moments.

"Up…destroy!" Ramien commanded and for the second time that night a pair of rockets streaked through the air. Ramien's shot struck a glancing blow against the side armor, corkscrewing harmlessly away, causing some of the Coalition heretics to duck instinctively. Ginnael scored a direct hit against the frontal plating, but as predicted, the rocket did not break through the armor, leaving behind only a blackened dent. "Reload!" Ramien shouted as the heretic railgun continued its implacable advance.

He was about to fire again when he saw that the glow of the railgun began to intensify again, the gun pointing straight at them.

"Look out!" he shouted throwing himself to the left while Ginnael dove to the right. The section of dune between them blew inwards, nearly burying the both of them alive in the sand.

Coughing and spitting sand out of his mouth, he looked around himself for his rocket launcher. He found it on the ground, now twisted into an L-shape. "Damn it, my launcher is busted!" he shouted "Gin, what about you?"

"Mine is still working but I'm down to my last reload!" she replied "this isn't working!" she added with a hint of desperation in her voice.

Ramien could only agree. It was unlikely that this rocket would do more damage than the prior ones, and once it was gone there would be nothing more they could do. If the railgun didn't kill them first, the enemy infantry would finish them off.

It was then he noticed what might be their one last shred of hope. "Wait!" he shouted to Ginnael, who stopped just short of firing their last rocket.

"See that mound of sand?" he said pointing it out with his hand. "Wait for it to start climbing over it, aim for the bottom plates."

Ginnael nodded nervously, making herself ready to fire.

"Hold…hold…" he said is a calm voice, holding up his hand for emphasis. The railgun reached the mound of sand and began to rise, its treads lifting its hull higher… higher, bringing that brief moment of vulnerability closer.

Anxiety made Ginnael shout a long, wordless shout between clenched teeth.

"…fire!" Ramien shouted, and their final hope roared through the air with what seemed like an eternity. This time there was no mighty explosion, no ball of fire. There was a loud "thud" and a small flash of flame near the point of impact, the railgun giving a slight shudder. Slowly, reluctantly the machine lurched over the lip of the dune and landed nose first on the ground, the main gun twisting under the machine's own weight. Ramien shot Ginnael a relieved smile, cut short by a bullet whizzing past them. The enemy infantry had been charging forward the entire time they had been struggling to kill the railgun. Now they were arriving at the range of their rifles.

"Ok, let's get out of here, run!" he shouted to Ginnael, and the both of them ran and slid down the dune as fast as they could. They ran, zigzagging and dodging in erratic patterns to give the enemy no easy target. The Northerners followed, filling the air with gunfire. He could see the light of firing rifles as they lit the darkness in brief flashes. He could hear the bullets whistling past, the patter they made as they impacted the sand around them, could feel the hot passes of near misses. Then he heard a sound he had never thought he would hear, had never wanted to: a wet splat, followed by Ginnael giving a strangled gasp of pain. He turned, seeing Ginnael stumble forward a step, holding her right side with both hands, then collapsing face first onto the sand.

"Gin!" Ramien shouted, running to her, heedless of incoming bullets, kneeling beside her when he reached her.

"What ye think ye are doing!? Leave, save yerself!" she tried to protest weakly.

Ramien would not hear a word of it. "Shut up, Gin, no one is getting left behind, now hold on!" he said, lifting her over onto his shoulders, trying to carry her away. She was slight of build, but still too heavy to carry while under fire. It was not long before he was forced to lower her down again, taking cover behind a small mound of sand, trying to cover his friend with his own body. He loosed a few blind shots in the general direction of the enemy, resulting in an even more intense shower of return fire as the enemy took position on a nearby dune. The situation was intolerable. There was not enough cove for the both of them. Either a lucky shot would get them, or the enemy would smarten up and flank them or throw a grenade into their position, and then it would be all over. The volume of fire was intense, impacts raining all over the place, many of them hitting rather far from the place they were hiding he noted. The damned bastards probably had not realized there were just two of them, otherwise they would have concentrated their fire and wiped them out. He already knew this illusion would not last. The constant, cacophonic thunder of gunfire made it impossible to focus, to think. They were trapped. Even if Ginnael had not been hurt, they could not run away without being gunned down, and if they tried to surrender, odds were they would kill the both of them anyway as revenge for the damage they had done. This looked like the end…

Just as he had made his peace with the fact that he would be meeting Sajuuk in a few moments, the unthinkable happened. A large shape charged into view, coming from behind the sand dunes with breakneck speed. With astonishment he recognized the familiar shape of his assault ship, carried through the air like one of Sajuuk's spirits of salvation. As it flew through the air it swerved, both guns spitting fire and death in a wide line across the enemy positions. To their credit the heretic soldiers tried to disengage and seek cover, but it was already too late. The lip of the dune they were on disappeared in a wave of exploding sand blossoms, devouring the enemy soldiers with it, tossing those few that remained in view around like ragdolls. Of the enemy none survived. Ramien had simply stared and watched the scene unfold, still in disbelief at the unexpected rescue.

The assault ship stopped, a hatch popped open and the head of Adrimas came into view. "We came back as soon as we realized what you managed to do! Holy damn but you actually took down a railgun with rocket fire! I can't believe it…"

"Ginnael is hurt, get over here and help her!" Ramien cut him off, while at the same time removing her helmet so she could breathe more easily. She was pale, sweaty and barely conscious, but still breathing. Without saying another word Adrimas clambered out of the hatch and ran to them, and together they carried her to the ship. Once inside they seated her into her chair, the only area of free space readily available. While T'rel was driving, Adrimas went looking for an emergency aid kit, and Ramien removed Ginnael's coat and rolled back her shirt go get a better look at her wound. What he saw made him gasp. On her right side at roughly the area of her ribs, there was a large hole of ragged flesh and shattered bone, still bleeding heavily, her life fluid pouring out with a lazy flow, staining everything it touched in dark red. It was a miracle that she was even still alive.

"That bad huh?" Ginnael commented dryly having noticed his expression. She was strangely calm, without even a hint of pain or distress on her features.

"No, not at all. It will be alright, it's… just a scratch. Try not to talk." He said quickly, failing to convince even himself.

Ginnael gave a weak smile. "Ye are a terrible liar, did ye know that?" "We did alright didn't we?" she asked after a moment, sadness creeping into her voice.

"We did wonderfully, better than anyone else could have done." Ramien replied, trying to keep his voice from breaking.

"Do you think they'll give us medals? To all of us?" she wondered.

"I'll make sure of it" Ramien promised with determination in his voice.

"Good" Ginnael said simply. She raised her hand on his cheek, and instinctively his hand rose to hers, gently holding her hand against his cheek, ignoring her the bloody handprint her touch left behind. "I'll miss our arguments" she said, a single tear running down her face.

"We'll have more, Y-you'll see" Ramien said with watered eyes. Ginnael made a strange sound at that, He could not tell whether she was crying or laughing. "You like lying to yerself, boss? That's where ye and I are different. I don't lie to myself. Never…saw the point" she said, and no sooner had she said that when her breathing became slower and more heavy. Her eyes closed and her head slumped against the headrest of her chair. Her hand became limp in his grip. She was not breathing anymore…

"No, nonono, look at me Gin, wake up, you have to wake up! Don't you dare do this to me, don't you dare die!" He shouted in a panic, shaking her still form, trying desperately to wake her.

Adrimas came up behind him, taking a hold of his shoulders to calm him. "Boss…boss…boss! She's gone." he shouted, calmly but firmly, trying to get through to him. Finally he calmed.

He stood up, took several shaky steps backward, and slumped into his chair, burying his head in his hands. For a long time he said nothing. "May Sajuuk accept her soul." he finally spoke.

"Sajuuk accept her soul." echoed the other two crewmen in the ship bowing their head in respect.

"We need to go home, report, and make sure she is… taken care of." Ramien said in a colorless tone, overwhelmed by his emotions.

"Way ahead of you sir, we already on our way." T'rel said with empathy in his voice. Indeed they had been moving as soon as they had come aboard, Ramien had simply not noticed it.

As they drove through the desert, the other two crewmen gave him a respectful space, leaving him in his thoughts. They could not fully appreciate his feelings and they knew it as well. Ginnael and he had been friends for many years, an inseparable team. Other crew members had come and gone, but they had always been here, a constant on the shifting histories of this small ship. There had been no enemy they would not dare face down together. And now she was gone, killed in a manner so casual it was insulting, by some heretic soldier that knew nothing of her, had never known her. In killing her they had killed a piece of his soul.

With that thought his mind turned sour. How had they dared to do this? These Kiithless pieces of filth, these worthless riiti! He would make them pay. Sajuuk be his witness, he would take his vengeance upon them. He would make sure they would know and share the pain of his loss a hundredfold. He would make the sands themselves red with their blood. There, in the quietness of his dark thoughts, he promised himself retribution, he swore eternal vengeance upon the northerners, a vow spoken and witnessed only in the corners of his mind. From this point forward he would commit himself to their destruction, until his vengeance was sated or he would run out of enemies. In that single moment, something broke deep inside him, something that should have never been broken.

And thus the great war poisoned yet another once noble soul with hatred…


	4. Chapter 4, Juno has fallen

**Chapter 4; Juno has fallen**

"Unit 6–16, move to the left please, you're in my sights"

"Unit 6–16 moving to left, watch your fire"

"Watch it, WATCH IT! That AA launcher is still operational!"

"Oh son of a… I'M HIT! Gah…still flying, but I gotta bugger out!"

"Roger, get out of there."

"Hostile LAV's moving through sector 10, 20+ hostiles. Assault 3 responding. Command, how copy?"

"Good copy, response authorized, happy hunting"

"Skimmer 8 to Assault 3, were in range, do you require assistance?"

"Negative, we got this"

"Sky 5 moving in, approach is clear, no threats detected. Primary target is locked and…firing! Good hits on target, hull fractures detected on target. Repeat, hull fractures on target. Missile banks are empty, returning to base."

"Rail 12, incoming artillery, evasive maneuvers!"

"AAAGH!"

"Sajuuk have mercy, I think the whole unit bought it. My railgun is the only one left. What do I do, WHAT DO I DO?!"

"Hang tight, reinforcements are incoming. Rail 11, divert to Rail 12 location. Orders are to assist and take over"

"Command to all units: - locate the source of that artillery and relay data to appropriate responders." Khagaan spoke through the radio system built into her helmet and command chair. In battle she was given priority channels to give orders to the forces she commanded directly, while the communications officer collated reports from the field and handled low priority transmissions. It was an efficient system that allowed orders to be transmitted while still letting responses and other transmissions to get through. Even as Khagaan watched the battle unfold from the myriad monitors before her, the battle chatter continued to pour into the speakers, snippets of conversations, status reports and orders being given going back and forth. On and on went the cycles of command: orders were issued and carried out, enemy responses analyzed and estimated, new decisions reached and new orders given based on those decisions, and the pattern returned to the beginning. Now and then Khagaan gave a new command, directing the units of her fleet to react or behave in a new manner, directing the flow of the overall battle. Her orders involved the larger goings on of the battlefield, while the minutiae of the various situations were left to the local commanders. She was the conductor in charge of the orchestra, she had to control the whole, while trusting each individual to do their part as the whole required. Of course the biggest problem was that there was another conductor out there, opposing her every note and voice. Theirs was a deadly music, where missteps could cost the lives of hundreds in an instant and where ultimately only one orchestra would remain playing in the end.

The Gaalsien had struck a few hours after dawn, rushing past the Coalition early warning scanners and crashing against their defense lines. For the past two hours, the battle had raged amongst the sand ridden plains, dunes and small forward outposts. The Coalition forces never had a real chance of stopping them. Their numbers were too few, many of them having been pulled back to protect the frontier wall. Additionally, diversionary attacks had ensured that their strength was spread thin, dealing with a dozen misleading secondary threats, while the main thrust of the Gaalsien offensive was making its way to their main base like a vengeful sandstorm. Still, the Northerners were making a spectacular stand. The battlefield was littered with dozens upon dozens of wrecks, Gaalsien and Coalition both. Knowing that to drip – feed reinforcements to the battle would be a futile gesture, the Coalition forces had established rally points for units returning from secondary battles, so that the main battle could receive reinforcements in larger, more meaningful waves. Khagaan had had to divert forces to deal with several such rally points already. No doubt that more would remain before the battle was done. Meter by meter the Gaalsien forces advanced, until the concrete fortress known as Juno base was before them. Even here the defenses had been ferocious. The solid walls were littered with artillery positions, railguns and anti – air missile launchers. The main gate had been guarded by a pair of super – heavy railgun turrets that had single handedly wrecked half dozen cruisers before they were finally disabled. Most of the wall weapons had also been destroyed, smashed by Gaalsien railguns and airstrikes. Not all weapons were offline yet though, as was made evident when an interceptor drew too close to an anti – air missile launcher and went off on a crashing dive into the distance, trailing blue fire and black smoke.

"Give me video feed from Sky 7, gun camera footage if you please" Khagaan commanded guardian Harkath. In response a holographic display flared up showing three screens of video footage belonging to a group of Gaalsien interceptors. Khagaan selected one of the screens by tapping it with her hand, bringing it to full view on her display. On the monitor she could now see the enemy command carrier, rapidly growing larger as the interceptor grew closer to its target, moving through the gaps in the enemy air defense. The enemy carrier had been pounded with airstrikes for the better part of the past half hour, and the damage was showing. The mighty track units that would have propelled the machine across the sands were now twisted wrecks of metal, the main command bridge was ablaze and huge holes had been blasted across its hull, black smoke pouring out of them. As she watched the interceptor giving the video feed launched additional missiles to slam against the carrier's hull, blasting new gouges and craters on the ravaged armor plating. And still the carrier fought on, like a wounded predator or a brave knight, defiant even in its death throes. The machine cannon turrets in the corners kept firing, spitting strings of tracer fire in the air, trying to drive the away the aircraft assailing it. Khagaan could just make out crew members on the main flight deck trying to do the same with small arms fire (a futile gesture, since the odd shot that would find its mark could not penetrate modern vehicle armor) or trying to extinguish the raging fires. In a way it was sad to see such a mighty and beautiful ship suffering, wounded, dying, but since it was an enemy ship, the sight also brought joy and a sense of grim satisfaction. A curious mix of feelings all too familiar to warriors, but the destruction of this ship meant she was that much closer to accomplishing her mission, and that alone made it a thing worth doing.

"Guardian Harkath, status of the enemy carrier beyond what I can see?" she asked her sensors officer.

"I'm reading a power plant failure on the enemy carrier, Lady–Protector. Estimate reserve power exhaustion and total power outage in 15 – 45 minutes at most. Enemy weapons are offline, save for the machine cannons. Most primary systems estimated to be inoperable. Enemy flight deck compromised, no launch capabilities. Threat estimation is minimal. That crate is going nowhere, in case there was any doubt." he answered.

"Good", Khagaan nodded "that's four of five".

"Three of five would be the more reliable estimate." Arraesh commented. "The confusion regarding the status of the enemy carrier Sakala remains unresolved."

Khagaan looked at Arraesh for a moment, considering his words. "Fair enough, three of five." she said finally. "Which reminds me, any word from Renza on the assault against Epsilon base and the Kapisi?"

"No, nothing on priority channels." Arraesh stated. "Kennae?" he then asked.

"All channels beyond the encrypted priority channels are choked with immediate range battlefield reports, Captain–Defender. I cannot receive long range transmissions until further notice."Kennae replied. "Also, Renza is unlikely to attempt transmitting mission critical updates outside priority channels." she added dutifully, minding her protocol to state even seemingly obvious facts for the sake of clarity. How typical of new personnel to be so rigid, not that Khagaan minded clarity.

"Well I guess we just have to wait to hear from them then. What's the status of our breacher units?" Khagaan asked next.

"Breacher units report that they are in position and ready for action." Kennae reported.

"Good. Guardian R'kath, are we within weapons range?"

"The enemy main gate is now in range of our long range missile launchers" R'kath replied.

"Understood. Launch missile barrage on the enemy main gate on my mark. All breacher units, target the main gate and open fire, fire at will. I repeat, fire at will!"

In the fields surrounding the carrier rank upon rank of Gaalsien railguns and honor guard cruisers began firing, sending streams of red railgun fire to crash against the massive gate of reinforced concrete, tearing huge chunks out of it, raising plumes of dust into the air. Meanwhile behind them several assault ships waited for their opportunity to pounce and charge the breach, carrying squads of Gaalsien infantry on their backs. Khagaan waited, counting down the seconds: one…two…three…four…five. At the fifth second she nodded to R'kath: Weapon control, missile barrage, fire! From the sides of the carrier a swarm of missiles erupted and flew towards the gate, leaving behind contrails of black smoke. Upon impact a huge mushroom cloud of dust and smoke rose into the air and the rumbling of shattering concrete could be heard even through the outer armor and fortified viewscreens. Without waiting for the dust to settle Khagaan turned to Harkath: Sensors, what are the barrage results?

"Enemy main base door…destroyed, the path is clear, I repeat, the path is clear!" Harkath replied.

Grinning under her helmet, Khagaan opened the communication channel to the units on the field once again: "All units advance and assault the enemy base proper, push and overrun! Skimmer units take point; prioritize enemy railguns and then the LAV's. Assault units advance to the base and deploy infantry, then support skimmer units against enemy LAV's. Railgun units engage all targets of opportunity; prioritize enemy cruisers and heavy units. Air squadrons provide fire support as directed by ground units. Cruiser units assume defensive formations and protect the rear of the fleet. Clear out any remaining pockets of resistance; secure the field. Navigation, prepare to…." That was when she was cut off by a shrill sound of a warning klaxon.

"ALERT, CRUISE MISSILE IN THE AIR!" Announced Harkath. "Target is…TARGET IS US; TARGET IS US! IMPACT IMMINENT!"

Jumping to action Arraesh bellowed into his communications system: "ALL HANDS, BRACE FOR IMPACT!"

At the same moment Khagaan was shouting an order to the units on the field: "Breacher units, SCATTER, SCATTER, SCATTER…agh! She grunted as the Cruise Missile hit, sending the Ashoka to a bout of shaking and swaying while Jiire fought to keep the carrier under control, cursing heavily as she did. The hover pods strained and complained as they sought to bring the carrier back to the position it had been in just a few moments ago. Everyone on the command bridge was thrown about on their seats, or knocked to the ground if they were standing and on the upper level two crewmen were thrown over the railing to tumble to the ground, without a doubt breaking bones as they landed. Most displays and monitors on the bridge flickered out, some of them breaking in a shower of sparks and black smoke while long cracks appeared to the windows. Small fires ignited here and there, before being put out with jets of thick white gas from the automatic fire extinguishers. The noise was deafening, a storm of alert sirens and groaning metal adding to the thunder of the explosion. After a while that seemed like a small eternity things finally quieted down. Khagaan took a look outside, seeing only dust, smoke and slowly falling debris. Other crew members were coming about as well, turning off non –critical alarms, reactivating their consoles, joining the automated fire extinguishers with handheld extinguishers in putting out what fires remained, while Arraesh alerted the medical deck to send teams to fetch their more seriously wounded people. Khagaan took several breaths to collect herself, then contacted engineering:

"Guardian - engineer Scotha, damage report!"

Scotha replied hastily, stress clear in his voice: "We were hit on our upper deck, the primary armor plating has ruptured at this location! Initial reports suggest partial penetration through secondary plating and into ship compartments proper! We've sustained damage to several ship systems, severity unknown! The plasma reactor spiked on impact, but automatic systems kicked in and the reactor is now back online and stable! Beyond that we… we're still compiling reports down here, its chaos! It figures that something fucking like this would happen on this fucking ship and Sajuuk's mighty balls just when I…"

"GUARDIAN–ENGINEER, you will **not** use the name of **our** creator as a profanity, not now, not **ever**! It is blasphemy, heresy! Do it again and I will end you **myself**. I command you to repent for your actions at the first opportunity. Repent, **sinner!** " Khagaan shouted to her communications systems, anger shining in her voice, cutting off Scotha's tirade.

"I…I apologize, repentance will be offered" Scotha replied meekly, clearly intimidated by Khagaan's sudden outburst.

"See that it is" Khagaan hissed, then turned to her second in command, diplomatically cutting off the connection to engineering, sighing audibly: "why oh why must all competent engineers be such disrespectful little bastards?"

Arraes simply shrugged and with a shake of her head Khagaan went back to attending to the matter at hand:

"Arraesh, what's the situation on the bridge?"

"Most bridge systems are now back online, we are working on the rest as we speak. We have sustained roughly a dozen injuries, but only three cases require immediate medical attention, the rest are walking wounded that can wait until the situation clears, no fatalities thankfully."

"What about the rest of the ship?" Khagaan asked.

It was Kennae that answered: "Reports from other decks imply a similar situation as it is here. Medical deck reports roughly thirty fatalities and rising, as well as around two hundred injured and rising." She then paused, raising her hand to her helmet's earpiece listening to something. "Report from the breacher units, lady – protector: the blast hit them dead on, they've sustained heavy casualties, the" – she paused again, trying to find the right words – "all honor guard cruisers have been destroyed."

"All of them?" Khagaan asked, shocked.

"Yes, Ma'am"

Khagaan sighed, bowing her head "May Sajuuk accept their souls"

"Sajuuk accept their souls" echoed the bridge crew, quietly and solemnly.

"So where did that missile come from, was it the enemy carrier?" Khagaan asked, directing her gaze to Harkath.

"No, the missile came from the base itself, probably their last line of defense" Harkath replied.

"Can they do it again?" Khagaan queried, knowing that her carrier could not survive another attack of such strength.

"It's possible, but it would take them several minutes to reload" Harkath stated thoughtfully.

Nodding, Khagaan turned to her weapons officer: "Guardian R'kath, do we still have weapons capabilities?"

"Weapon controls have been restored, but the long range missile systems remain unresponsive" said R'kath.

"Understood" Khagaan said, then turned to speak to her helmswoman: "Jiire, take us inside the enemy base, best possible speed you can give, I doubt they will risk hitting their home base. R'kath, as soon as we are in range engage all targets of opportunity; shunt power to weapons and armor after we arrive but not before. Kennae, inform our infantry to press forward at all cost, I want the base command centre seized and the cruise missile launch systems disabled ASAP"

As her crew followed her commands she looked around herself. She saw again the cracks on the windows, the broken consoles and machinery, the wreckage strewn on the floor. She saw her crew, many of whom had removed their now broken helmets, showing the wounds and bruises underneath, while others betrayed the injuries they carried through the way they moved, how they avoided putting pressure or weight on certain parts of their bodies. She saw the two members of her crew who had fallen over the railing and who were only now being picked up by medical personnel in white coats. She remembered how many of her crew were dead or hurt, how even more were lost on the cruisers and other units on the field, murdered by a single savage shockwave. On the arm of her chair her hand clenched into a tight fist.

"They will pay for this" she said to herself.

The battle raged for another hour. With the enemy vehicle units dealt with and the main entrance breached, the battle turned into a brutal effort of clearing the remaining Coalition resistance. The Gaalsien infantry stormed the remaining holdouts one by one, starting with the command centre, which promptly fell after an intense and bloody battle. Meanwhile the northerner military continued to offer bitter resistance, turning every corridor, every hall into a death trap, each meter gained bought with blood. Many of the base personnel that were not soldiers still chose to fight to the last; fighting with whatever weapons they had, sometimes without any weapons at all, offering resistance until they were gunned down by Gaalsien soldiers. The Ashoka sat squarely at the centre of the base supplying heavy firepower, blasting any enemy infantry units that dared to come out into the open, as well as the various base maintenance vehicles that the enemy engineers had unsuccessfully tried to turn against the invading Gaalsien.

After Khagaan had listened to the flow of battle for long enough she finally decided that the situation was secure enough: "Captain-Defender, you have the bridge; I'm going down there".

"Lady-protector, are you sure that's wise? They're still fighting down there." Arraesh replied.

"I'm certain that our soldiers have the situation under control. This base is the most likely to have the information we seek. If so, I want to be there. I **have** to be there." Khagaan said, checking her sidearm as she did, "I will be careful, you have my word".

Arraesh sighed: "Very well, Lady–Protector. For whatever its worth, I hope I was going with you."

"Just like all of us I'm sure, but I need you here." Khagaan replied. She looked around herself: "Keep the ship safe, would you? She has suffered enough as it is." With that she stood up and left for the door.


	5. Chapter 5, The Aftermath

**Chapter 5; The aftermath**

Khagaan walked through the corridors of the Coalition base, making her way towards the command centre. The entire place was shot up. The walls were full of bullet holes and black scorch marks from grenades. Machinery and computers had been blasted to pieces, spitting sparks while black smoke drifted from some of them. The ground was strewn with bits of concrete and metal, while a foul smelling mist of smoke lingered in the air. The bodies were everywhere: maintenance crews in orange hazard suits, officers in green – brown uniforms lying on command consoles or crumbled in the hallways with side arms in their hands, enemy infantry in desert camouflage near every available chokepoint. Here and there Gaalsien soldiers in their green uniforms and breather units lay among the dead. Living Gaalsien soldiers also lingered in the hallways, guarding important positions, searching among the corpses for survivors of either side, patrolling the halls and corridors in an effort to secure the base and clearing away the bodies of their fallen.

As Khagaan walked she spotted movement on the ground: A single maintenance crewman crawling on the ground, tying to reach the stairwell in front of him, a red stain on the centre of his back. Whoever had shot him had apparently broken his spine. It would take him hours to die. Even if by some miracle he survived, he would never walk again. Without even slowing her stride, Khagaan pulled out her side arm, disengaged the safety switch and put two rounds into the head of the wounded man. A young Gaalsien soldier near the entrance door to the command centre jumped at the noise, raising is rifle a fraction until he realized who had done the shooting. He was about to salute her until she spoke up:

"Never salute officers in combat situations. Officers are priority targets, you don't want to signal their presence to the enemy, didn't they tech you that in basic?"

"Oh…er, yes they did" the soldier stammered. "My apologies Lady–P…"

"Don't do that either, just be more alert next time. What's the point of guarding something if just anyone can sneak up on you?"

"Sorry ma'am" the soldier said, clearly embarrassed, as Khagaan walked past him and into the command centre.

As she entered the Coalition command center she took a look around herself. The space was vast, expanding to the left and right for as far as she could see. The outer wall was lined with windows, through which she could see the rest of the base in all its immensity. Despite the size the command center was far from spacious. Every available space was taken up by computers, work stations, displays and command consoles, leaving only narrow pathways from one area to another. Unlike in a typical Gaalsien base, here the predominant color of the lighting was blue. The space was also far more utilitarian, stripped of just about every feature that did not serve a practical function. In a Gaalsien base one would have expected religious imagery lining the walls, scrolls of holy texts on consoles and special spaces left empty for daily prayers. Like other areas of the base had been, the command center was littered with the signs of battle, but to a far lesser degree. The soldiers had been under orders to capture this place as intact as possible, and thus the fire had been lessened. This reduction in firepower showed in more Gaalsien bodies among the fallen. Even here some of the computers had been shot to pieces, and Khagaan quite suspected that many had been deliberately destroyed by Coalition soldiers in an attempt to the Gaalsien intelligence. Despite this many computer were still operational, enough for their needs. She turned to speak to one of the Gaalsien sergeants in the room currently working on one of the computers: "Well, soldier, have you managed to locate the information we seek?"

"Not yet ma'am" the soldier answered not turning his gaze from the screen of the computer "the database is extensive, even the encrypted section. And we have to be careful. Systems like this can contain all kinds of booby-traps and failsafes. We press the wrong button at the wrong time we might accidentally end up purging the entire system."

Khagaan nodded. "Don't take any chances. We need that data."

She glanced around herself taking another look at the destruction around her. "How many did you lose?" she asked.

"Enough to be angry about it" the sergeant answered simply.

"I'm sorry for your losses" Khagaan responded, wondering if she had been inconsiderate in asking the question.

"Yeah, I try not to think about it" the soldier said, clearly somewhat uncomfortable with the subject. "I heard that the Ashoka was hit during the battle. How bad was it?" the soldier nonetheless asked after a few moments of silence.

"It was bad. A damn cruise missile nailed us right on the upper deck. Caught us and the breacher teams." she replied her voice a mixture of tiredness and sorrow. "I too have lost enough people today to angry about it".

"Hmmh" breathed the soldier "It's been that kind of a day hasn't it?"

Behind her mask Khagaan gave a half grimace, half sarcastic smirk: "Most definitely." She was about to continue when her helmet radio crackled to life. "Command actual calling Command ranger, are you receiving?" came the voice of Arraesh.

"Command ranger receiving, what is it?" she replied.

"The Renza just reported in. They've sustained heavy casualties, but Epsilon base has now been taken and secured. However the Kapisi was not there."

"Not there? What do you mean?" she asked, confused.

"Well the Renza hit the base as planned, but the Kapisi had apparently already left." Arraesh explained.

Khagaan frowned. This was not supposed to be possible. According to the intel they had, the carriers of the expedition were months away from full deployment readiness with the exception of the Sakala, which had been fully operational for some time. So either the information they had was faulty to a catastrophic degree or…

"They must've rushed the Kapisi out with only partial readiness." she said, still frowning.

"That would be my guess as well." Arraesh agreed. "Risky if you ask me, but on the other hand they're still alive, must be doing something right. Oh, and before I forget we received a data burst from the Arrakesh as well, regarding the Sakala engagement. Not much here, it just says *engagement concluded, priority target terminated*."

"That's it?" Khagaan asked, sounding more puzzled than ever "that seems…underwhelming, given how long it took to get a straight answer from them."

"That's all the message says. But it seems that the matter is dealt with and the Kapisi is now the only target left" Arraesh said with some uncertainty in his voice.

For a lengthy while Khagaan said nothing. She had an odd sense of foreboding. There was something very odd about the message from the Arrakesh, though she could not quite put her finger on what exactly it was that troubled her. Finally she shook it off as irrelevant for the time being.

"Very well, we'll discuss the Kapisi situation with the command crew once I get back. Inform the salvagers to collect what they need as quickly as possible, we may have to depart sooner than expected."

She was about to continue when she was interrupted by the sergeant speaking up: "Ma'am, Í think we have it!"

"Show me, show me!" she said, suddenly exited, the tiredness of the day's hard fighting gone from her voice.

The soldier typed in a command to the computer he had been working on, and on the inner wall of the command centre a large view screen lit up, showing their world viewed from space. The image of their planet rotated, stopping roughly at the area of Dhaigren. Then rapidly the planet grew larger on the screen as the machine zoomed in on a location. Now that she had the satellite data to see, it was no surprise to her that the Gaalsien had never discovered the location of Khar-Toba, before. It was located deep in the desert, near the equator, in a place where even the Gaalsien usually would not go. And without knowing what or where they were looking for, they could have been looking for lifetimes without finding it. They knew this was so, for they had tried. The location was a field of stone and sand, indistinguishable to the naked eye form a thousand other such locations on the planet. A series of various windows opened on the screen, showing the visual image of target area, the same area through various filters, as well as various measurements and readings the satellite instrumentation had been able to receive. A the centre there was a large, dark shape distorted by the sheer distance it was being viewed from but still distinguishable against the sand, a shape too ordered and regular to be anything else than the work of human hands. According to the satellite data the structure gave readings that indicated high concentrations of various heavy metals and unidentifiable ceramic materials. This would not have been entirely unique on its own, although there could have potentially been great value, both secular and sacred. The Gaalsien knew that such wreckage sites existed, often the source of valuable raw materials and technological advances. Gifts of divine providence, so taught their faith, brought here by Sajuuk in ages past, to arm his servants in the war his grand designs had foreseen, a sign that their resistance against the Northern heretics carried his blessing and approval. Also, these wrecks were believed to have belonged to other peoples Sajuuk had created, peoples who had not fallen as far from his grace as theirs had. Therefore these sites had great religious significance, for through proper rites and reverence it might be possible to share an essence of the blessings Sajuuk had bestowed upon these superior peoples of the stars, still contained in the intricate designs of their sacred artifacts.

The feature that marked that marked this place as special, the one that separated it from others like it, was the power readings the satellite had received on its blasphemous mission. The site was flooded with energy, with far exceeding anything Khagaan had ever seen. According to the numbers displayed on the screen, there was more power in that place that there had been estimated to be in the sun above their world, all stored inside the derelict she was now seeing. There was something wondrous there, something incredible, something that could only come from a source of absolute divinity, of that she was certain.

"Yes, there it is, the first city." Khagaan said, her voice of one of quiet awe. Never had she expected to be here, at this moment of discovery. In truth, in a small corner of her mind she had had doubts whether this part of their legends was true. Perhaps there had never been a first city she had thought, perhaps her people being here was something that had always been and would always be. Now, however she knew the truth with certainty. Knowing that vindicated a lifetime of faith for her, and the sense of completion was overwhelming. There was nothing more profound than to have ones faith rewarded with the truth, with proof that you were in the right.

A passage of one of their sacred texts became unbidden to her mind, and she began to recite it aloud:

"And so it was, after we were felled for the crime of our pride, of seeking to rule the light of stars themselves, the Great Maker brought us here, to the harsh lands of sand and scorching sun, cast out from the paradise of Hiigara. And it was right, for we had strayed far from his teachings. Sinful were our thoughts, dark our deeds, terrible our nature. Here he raised the first city, wherein he set a measure of his divine power, so that even in our shame we might remember him, and hope for redemption. That was his will."

The sergeant joined her in her recital, apparently caught up in her religious rapture, and together they spoke:

"And Sajuuk spoke to our people, to deliver commandments and grim warnings. Here you shall dwell, in this harsh land. It shall teach you the lessons you must learn. Hard you will have to toil to scrape a living from this soil. A thousand, thousand hardships you shall suffer here. Suffer them nobly, with a humble heart, and you may yet regain my favor. Teach yourself he lessons of humility, forge yourself a noble heart, free of cruelty and keep to the ways of life I have taught you, and you might earn my forgiveness. Remember, as you sin, so shall you suffer. The greater the sin, the greater the suffering that must be endured. Know that you might never be forgiven, such have been your sins, such has been the punishment your actions have warranted. All I shall offer you is a chance. If such a day should ever come that I decree you are pure enough, I and I alone shall lift you back to the paradise of Hiigara. Until then the gardens of the stars are not for you. Seek them not, nor dream of what you might discover among them. Be also warned, if you seek a path to the stars without my consent, my wrath shall be great. A great fire shall burn the skies, a flame so hot even sand and stone will burn. Defy my will again and none of you shall remain within my domains. You shall be cast to the outer darkness, to howl alone at your misery for all eternity, and even your memory will die. This grim warning I deliver unto you, to keep close to your heart when doubt about my teachings creeps into your minds. Let it be a protection against the day when arrogance and selfishness once again fester in your hearts. Let fear be the barrier between your life and your death, the last and mightiest of my deterrents. That is my will."

Their recital finished, and for a moment silence reigned, with all those present basking in the moment. Finally Khagaan spoke up again, turning to speak to the sergeant:

"Bring this information to our Kiith-Sa. Take the fastest ship you can find and an armed escort for protection, as many ships as you require, and advance to the nearest communication tower with all available speed. This matter now takes priority above all else. There will be no distractions, and no unnecessary delays. Understand this: the future of our Kiith, and of Kharak rests on the successful completion of this mission, and I will have you treat it with that seriousness. Have I been as clear as I can possibly be on this matter?"

The sergeant nodded: "It will be done. No distractions, no delays, and no failure. I swear it by Sajuuk."

"Huh, never thought these heretic satellite things would be this useful." the sergeant commented as he was downloading the data to a storage device.

"No one ever said that they did not have a certain… utility." Khagaan commented in response. "Indeed, in a way, that is the problem. Power can be a trap. Being able to do almost anything makes people think they have the right to do whatever they want, that they are above judgement or condemnation. Power makes people question established truths and make their own. Already we have heard of the northerners abandoning faith in Sajuuk altogether and embracing science and technology as their new god. Their accomplishments have made them blind, dazzling them with their brilliance, and now they risk stumbling over the cliff's edge, of arousing a power infinitely their superior. We faithful know that Sajuuk has given us a commandment to follow, and that it is not our place to question his will, even if it so happens that the power to do so is within our grasp. Just because you can break a rule does not mean that you should do so. Both the rules of Kiith and those of the Great Maker were made for a reason, and are not to be broken on a whim. Those who think to do so inevitably face judgement before the proper authority. Sajuuk is the proper authority for the Kiithid of Kharak, and if we break his laws, his judgement will be fire and death."

The sergeant chuckled: "The way you speak makes me think you should have been a Truthspeaker, ma'am." "Meaning no offence and meant in the best possible way of course:" the sergeant added cautiously.

Khagaan smirked. "I am my father's daughter, and to tell the truth I did consider the role once, long ago, when I was still a girl. But I craved to learn the ways of the blood-sand, and so here I stand. I like to think that Sajuuk preferred me to defend faith rather that teach it. Regardless, I hope my endless monologues do not bore you overmuch, soldier."

"Not at all," the soldier said with sincerity. "it is a poor Gaalsien that cannot bear words faith and wisdom."

"Yes," Khagaan agreed with surprising seriousness and just a hint of sadness "I have seen what it can do to a person, to lack the convictions that are expected of us. They are not happy people, those that are thus cursed. Reject the proper course and one is left directionless."

The sergeant was about to ask for a clarification, as it seemed the Lady-Protector was speaking from personal experience of some kind, but thought better of it. Private matters of one's commanding officer were best left alone.

"Complete your download, then be on your way ASAP. Remember your instructions" Khagaan finally said to the sergeant. "Meanwhile it seems if have some wartime hunting to organize." she continued.

"It figures this could not be simple. Of course there had to be that **one** slippery bastard that slipped through our fingers like water. Now we probably have to chase the blasted Kapisi halfway across the globe before were done." she muttered to herself as she made her way out the door of the command center.


	6. Chapter 6, Atrocities and hunts started

**Chapter 6; Atrocities committed and hunts started**

Khagaan was walking back to her carrier when one of her soldiers came to talk to her: "Ma'am there is a matter that requires your attention. Khagaan nodded, and turned to follow him. She was led to a wide open field of concrete, probably a parking space for Coalition vehicles. Within this space there was a large number of people, perhaps around five hundred or so, on their knees and hands behind the backs of their heads, arranged into a neat square. Some were in military uniforms, most were in various civilian clothing. The clothes of some were torn and in tatters, while some looked as if they had been assigned their kit just that day. Some were clearly wounded, others did not have a scratch on them. All of them had faces in various states of miserable. Surrounding this group there was a row of Gaalsien infantrymen, set in even intervals with assault rifles in their hands, forming a hollow square to enclose the other one.

"These are the prisoners that surrendered to us during the battle. Current head count is five hundred fourteen individuals. We wanted your instructions on what to do with them." said the soldier that had brought her here.

"Are there any officers among them?" Khagaan asked.

"No, not as far as we can tell, we would have already singled them out. A few are rank and file soldiers, most are just various base personnel." answered the soldier.

"Civilians then?" she queried.

"Non-combatants, Ma'am" the soldier corrected dryly. "They were still working in an enemy military base with full knowledge of what they were doing."

"Are you a command officer?" a new voice addressed her. A woman in a yellow and black uniform and short, dirt brown hair had stood up and boldly advanced several steps towards the line of guards, sparing only a single nervous glance at the half dozen assault rifles that levelled at her. "You must listen to me," the woman said assertively "we are prisoners of war, we have a right to…ah!" she was interrupted when the Gaalsien infantryman nearest to her struck her across her face with the butt of his assault rifle, causing her to fall to the ground with a grunt. She raised herself back into a sitting position, rubbing her cheek where a bruise was already forming, and glaring at the soldier that had struck her. If looks could kill the soldier would have been torn to ribbons in that instant.

"You will speak when spoken to, heretic." the soldier said simply, his tone goading the woman to stand up and attempt to speak again. 

"That's enough soldier." Khagaan said, interrupting the scene. She knelt so that her eyes me those of the fallen prisoner, and she removed her helmet so the prisoner could see her face. "What is your name, if I may ask?" Khagaan asked.

"Irene, of kiith Naabal, maintenance officer, what do you care?" the prisoner answered with anger and defiance in her voice, but also a fragment of cautious curiosity.

"Because, Irene of kiith Naabal, your actions just now were quite brave, more than many would attempt, and that deserves recognition, regardless of whatever else might happen. You deserve to have your name known to us. Despite this, I'm afraid you are mistaken. You claim to have rights as prisoners of war. You have none. Once, in a world that once was, that might have been different, but you cast that world aside. You have turned away from Sajuuk, and thus you are no longer under the protection of his laws. Now you only have the rights that I choose to give you."

"You fucking floats and your fucking religion!" Irene cursed angrily, and spat on the ground before Khagaan's feet.

"Floats? Is that what you call us?" Khagaan asked, amused. "Interesting. I will admit it has a certain ring to it, and with our vehicles I can see where the name comes from. Of course, we also have a name for you Northerners. We call you Faagani; the bound and blind, followers of the false gods of science and logic." Khagaan glanced at the Gaalsien soldier still standing near the two of them. "Of course there is also the term heretic, but that is just too generic, no?"

Irene did not answer, just looked at her with confusion in her face, struggling to understand Khagaan's reactions. Khagaan simply stood up and turned to address the soldier that had brought her here in the first place.

"So, soldier, how many would be needed to secure these people, in your estimation?" She asked of him in a low tone, so as to not be overheard by anyone else.

"To establish a proper guard rotation and routine checks, and to make sure the situation does not backfire at any time? I reckon that about twice their numbers would do. Three times if you want us to do that and secure this place against outside attacks in a reasonable manner." the soldier answered.

"You require that many against a bunch of unarmed prisoners?" Khagaan asked, incredulous.

"Not just the prisoners, Ma'am" the soldier answered. "There is every chance that there are hostile forces still out there, unaccounted for. If those forces get to our prisoners, free them and arm them… these people could be become a serious security hazard. They know this base better than we do and they're still spirited enough to put up a serious fight. The only way to counter that is to make sure we have more people available at any given time, regardless of what else might be out there."

"We don't have that kind of numbers, soldier." Khagaan said, a terrible suspicion beginning to creep into her mind.

"I am aware of that, Ma'am. You asked what I need and I answered, but the truth is we don't have what I would need." the soldier replied.

"Then why would you…?" Khagaan began to ask. Then the answer dawned on her. "You just wanted my permission didn't you?"

"The decision seems rightly yours, you are in command after all." The soldier said.

Khagaan gave a bitter laugh: "You're not asking me to make a decision, you're asking me to take the blame. You want me to take away your guilt by making it mine, so you can go on claiming you are a mindless bot that was just following orders."

The soldier did not answer, but his body language spoke of an embarrassed admission to her accusations. Khagaan glanced at the prisoners, then her wounded carrier in the distance, then back at the prisoners. "I guess it is simple then." she finally sighed. "Terminate." she commanded her soldiers with a voice that spoke of a heart hardened to an unpleasant task. Her soldiers responded at once, turning their weapons to point at the prisoners. The prisoners were standing up, screaming in fear or shouting alarmed protests, cut short by a staccato of assault rifle fire on full automatic. As soon she had given her command she had resumed her journey back to her carrier, walking with a significant briskness in her step. She refused to look back and see what she had wrought with her command, but she could not suppress a wince when the first shots rang out.

"Did I have to do that? Was it right? Was it his will, or have I sinned?" were the thoughts foremost in her mind as she walked, despite her attempts to drive those thoughts away with cold, calculating logic. She pushed her thoughts aside as best she could, trying to focus on the tasks yet ahead of her.

Sometime later she was sitting in the main conference room of her carrier, where she had called her main command crew to review their current situation and discuss their next plan of action, while the command center was by rotation crew members. The room was circular in shape dominated by the large round table at its center. The table also doubled as a holographic display system that was able to project various three dimensional images of various sort. Most prominently it was used to project various maps needed during strategic and tactical planning. A large red carpet covered the entire floor from end to end. Around the table were a series of simple chairs at regular intervals, made of steel and red cloth. The room was largely unadorned, save for the Gaalsien flag hanging from one section of the wall and a miniature representation of the Ashoka on a side table. On that side table were arranged a glass jug of water and several glasses, as well as various other refreshments and small eats, a necessary component of long meetings and planning sessions.

Currently it was Scotha that was speaking, outlining the damage the Ashoka had taken in the last battle. It was starting to sound that the damage was far more serious than had been immediately apparent. "At this time the repairs to our hull are proceeding nicely, most of the damage to the secondary armor plating and ship compartments have now been repaired, and I anticipate the primary armor plating shall be repaired before we face active combat again." he explained.

"There has been, however, significant damage to several important systems, some of which is rather serious" he continued. "Our ships EMP system has been disabled, though our crewmen are working on those systems and we expect the weapon can be repaired, given enough time. I don't think we should rely on the system being operational for the next few battles at least.

"Understood," Khagaan said "is there any other damage?"

Scotha sighed: "Unfortunately that was the least of the damage to major systems we sustained. The attack also hit affected our main production yard just as we were in the process of creating a new honor guard cruiser. As a result our local data relating to the cruiser has been irrevocably corrupted. We cannot produce new honor guard cruisers until we can receive replacement data."

"With the situation at hand, it is unlikely that we'll get that kind of chance, so I guess we will have to do without them." Khagaan commented.

"There is also the problem regarding our long range missile systems." R'kath added.

"I seem to remember that the system seemed to be somehow damaged in the attack, how bad is it?" Khagaan asked of Scotha.

"Dockyard refit only." Scotha said after a long pause.

"Well, shit." Khagaan cursed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Surely this isn't beyond our ability to fix? The phased array can do almost anything, can it not?" Harkath asked.

"We could probably create the parts we need, but without a dockyard framework around us there is no way we could move the larger components into place." Scotha explained. "And some of the more advanced components consists of materials that are almost impossible to find or manufacture in the field, even with the assistance of the phased assembler array."

"So, to summarize, they fucked us up." Khagaan stated.

"Royally." Arraesh confirmed dryly.

"Well, there might be a chance for us to improvise ourselves a dockyard if we are lucky." Khagaan said. "If not, then there is nothing to do but hope that we won't need a missile barrage anytime soon. But this brings us to the next topic of this meeting, the command carrier Kapisi. Arraesh?"

With a nod Arraesh began to speak, pressing a button on the table to light up a map of the region: "As you are already aware, the Coalition command carrier Kapisi has managed to evade the Renza's fleet before the attack on Epsilon base took place and flee to the open desert. At this time it is our belief that this was an emergency departure done with a minimal level of readiness. Given that this departure occurred roughly three months before the estimated departure time suggested by our intelligence, it is our belief that the Kapisi will need to complete certain preparations before it is ready to enter the equatorial desert. To accomplish this they will be needing a suitable facility, propably one that is sufficiently large to receive a Coalition lander. Thanks to the information captured from enemy bases defeated today, we know that currently there is only one such location left south of the Frontier wall. It is a decommissioning yard for retired fleet units known as the Boneyard, located around two hundred kilometers from Epsilon base, here. This will be the immediate next objective for our task force."

After a pause to let the Information sink in, Arraesh resumed his briefing:

"This situation presents an unique opportunity to destroy the Kapisi while the carrier is still vulnerable. It is our best chance, one that we must capitalize on. Our mission will be to either destroy the Kapisi or force it out of the Boneyard before the refit is complete. There is however a reasonable possibility that the Kapisi will be able to fight off our offensive long enough to continue on with its mission. Thanks to the information we have been able to acquire today, we can make some predictions what the probable route of the expedition will be, and we have designed our upcoming strategy accordingly."

Arraesh turned to Khagaan giving her the cue to begin her part of the briefing:

"The site of the Khar Toba is located here, deep within the Dhaigren region. To reach Dhaigren, it is necessary to bypass the Garaaki highlands mountain region here. There are two possible routes the Kapisi may use. One is the area of relatively low rock formations known as the Shining Flats in the north, the other the narrow canyon known as the Whispering Gallery. Since the northerner vehicles likely have difficulties tolerating extreme temperatures, they will likely try to minimize the time they have to spend in the equatorial regions. This would make the northern passage the more likely option for them. My orders will be as follows: The Ashoka and Renza will make for the Boneyard at best possible speed, leaving behind a contingent of forces to secure the assets we have acquired thus far. Even in our relatively depleted state, having two of our carriers and their fleets against their one should guarantee us a victory. Meanwhile the Ashinta will move to block the northern passage. If the Kapisi manages to escape us, then there is a chance they will flee straight into a trap and we will be able to catch them between three carrier fleets. The Arrakesh and Vashti will remain here to secure this region and assist our other forces as necessary. We will be needing an advance force to engage the Kapisi if we wish to intercept them before they can set out, so the Renza is to deploy its sand skimmer units; they are the only unit type of our carriers that can hope to reach the site in time."

Khagaan turned to address her communications officer: "Kennae, I want you to transmit these orders as soon as this meeting concludes."

"Understood." Kennae said in acknowledgement.

"The skimmer units alone will not be enough though, not with a major unit like the carrier and a base as heavily defended as this." Khagaan said after a moment of pondering. "We're going to need something bigger, something with more punch. Are the other forces we might make use of?"

"Well, there are a number of heavy railgun units moving through the area fairly close to the Boneyard. We could link them up with the skimmers." Arraesh said. "There is a problem however: those units are currently on route from our staging areas to reinforce our military units assaulting the Frontier Wall. If we reprioritize these units, it's likely that our forces attacking the wall will suffer additional casualties."

"Damn" Khagaan cursed. "You are sure that these are the only additional forces available?" she then asked of Arraesh.

"Unfortunately, yes." he confirmed.

Khagaan was quiet for a long time, considering. "Very well." she said finally. "Kennae, you are to contact those forces and inform them of their new orders. Coordinate with Arraesh and set a rendezvous where the assault force can converge for the attack. And contact the commanders who were supposed to receive these reinforcements, inform them of these developments and deliver them my most sincere apologies for interfering with their duties."

"Do we know who commands the Kapisi, who are we up against?" Khagaan asked, turning to Arraesh.

"With the capture of Epsilon base, the Renza has been able to acquire both the crew manifest and technical specifications of the Kapisi. I've got it right here." Arraesh said, lifting a datapad. "So, let's see… it looks like the commanding officer is Captain Roman S'jet.

"Roman?" Khagaan asked, surprised.

"I you know him, Ma'am?" Harkath asked.

"In a manner of speaking." Khagaan replied. "Our carriers have clashed a few times. In fact I seem to remember that the man you replaced was killed by units under his command. He is a good officer. He is smart enough to use bold stunts to change the rules of an unfavorable game, but also wise enough to know that ultimately steady, methodical tactics beat clever tricks and fancy new tech toys every time. A worthy foe by all accounts. The northerners picked well. So who else is on the command crew?"

"There is intelligence officer Nathan S'jet, science officer Rachel S'jet, apparently supposed to be some kind of tech genius that one, and operations officer Clea Soban. Then there is a whole list of other officers and crewmen but they're not important right now." Arraesh answered.

"So there is a bunch of S'jet scientists fighting us?" Harkath said with a snort. That raised a chuckle from the other members around the table.

"Well, not exactly." Khagaan said, still sounding amused. "In this modern time not every S'jet is a scientist, just like not every Gaalsien is a Truthspeaker. They have their share of military types. Besides, there are likely other smaller kiith serving on the Kapisi. They surely fill some of the non-scientist roles.

"Plus this **is** a science expedition as much as a military one, so I guess S'jet being involved would be a given." Jiire commented from her seat.

"True enough." Khagaan said with a nod. "Jiire, how soon can we reach the Boneyard?"

"If we move quickly and don't get surprises on the way? I'd say around tomorrow morning." Jiire replied with a shrug.

Khagaan turned to Scotha next: "Guardian-engineer, seeing as the place we're going to conveniently has a dry-dock, I was thinking that maybe we could use the facilities in the Boneyard to refit the Ashoka. Do you think you could make it work?"

Scotha considered, grasping his chin thoughtfully. "Maybe, if we can spare the time and they have the materials we need, and the structure survives the battle without getting blown to bits or the northerners sabotaging the place. We'd get more work done with the facility in any case, so it's worth a try. It will need some creative thinking to make things work for us, what with the different carrier designs and all, but it is not the first time I have messed up with unfamiliar tech, I can handle this."

"Alright; Scotha as soon as we set out I want you to shun as much power as we can handle to our engines. Arraesh, make sure that we have a moving perimeter of scouts around our carrier as we advance. I don't want to get ambushed out here. Until we arrive its business as usual. We have a lot of work to do so we best get to it. Command crew dismissed."

With the meeting concluded the people around the table stood up and began filing their way out through the door. "Guardian-engineer Scotha." Khagaan called out, and her chief engineer stopped in his tracks.

"The repentance you are to offer on your profane use of our creator's name, I expect this matter to be concluded before the day is done." Khagaan said in a calm voice which nonetheless carried a slight menacing tone.

"You still remember that incident?" Scotha asked, astonished.

"Of course." Khagaan said as if it was the most self-evident thing in the world. "Such a thing should not be forgotten, by either of us. I trust that your surprise at me remembering is not an indicator that you intended to neglect your responsibilities to Sajuuk?" she added with an icy tone.

"No, no, of-of course not." Scotha answered with a shaky tone, trying unsuccessfully to feign indignation at her suggestion.

"Very good. Just so you are aware I will be checking with speaker Deravis later to ensure that this matter has been attended to. That will be all. Thank you for your informative report today." Khagaan spoke in a formal tone.

Scotha nodded, saluted and quickly made his way out through the meeting room door shooting a nervous glance over his shoulder as he did.


	7. Chapter 7, Bones of steel

**Chapter 7; Bones of steel**

In the desert a group of sand skimmers were making their way towards their target, the facility known as the Boneyard. "Sir, are you seeing the same thing I am?" Aver, the commanding officer of this group of skimmers, heard a voice crackle in his speakers. The voice belonged to Redal, one of the soldiers of his skimmer unit.

"See what, please clarify?" Aver answered. In his mind he spat an annoyed curse for the hundredth time. He had talked to his people about this before, of how to say what they had to say in a curt but precise manner, without throwing in vague and ultimately useless phrases like *are you seeing what I'm seeing?*. Guess some lessons were hard to make stick no matter how much training and no matter how many lectures he gave about the subject. It would help if his unit was not in constant need of replacements, replacements that mostly were far too green to understand how to do things in a practical manner. But sadly a steady stream of casualties was the curse of sand skimmer units everywhere, something that could not really be helped. It took a special type of bravery and craziness to become a sand skimmer pilot, and most didn't ultimately last very long. People like him, that had been piloting these things for almost a decade now, were rare, even more so these days that new kinds of skimmers that could be controlled remotely from a safer location, without the need for a pilot to be physically present inside the machine. In this assault for instance, most skimmers were controlled from a production cruiser hanging back outside the actual battlefield. The only reason pilots like him were still kept around was because they had a rare set of skills that the brass wished to make use of. And since it had been shown that mixing remote controlled skimmers with piloted ones were difficult to coordinate in battlefield conditions, units like his still received replacement pilots. He hated that aspect of his service, of being a magnet for silly rookies to get themselves killed, just because he knew what he was doing. But that was just how it was, something that he had to live with, something that he tried to make work as best he could.

"Sir, wind speed and airborne particle density seem to be on the rise. It would seem that there is a big sandstorm heading our way, looks like a class five storm according to my instrumentation." Redal clarified.

"I see, how long before it hits?" Aver asked, checking his own instrumentation, quickly detecting the same anomaly that Redal had reported.

"I'd say half hour tops, around fifteen minutes after we engage." Redal replied.

"Okay, ladies and gentlemen, this changes things up a bit. Once that storm hits long range sensors and communication systems will be severely limited. So we're going to try to move quickly today. Let's try to complete our mission objectives within the fifteen minutes that we will have." And in case it needs to be said, don't try to exit your vehicles under any circumstances. Class five storms can have wind speeds of three hundred kilometers per hour or more. That kind of winds with sand in it can rip unprotected people to shreds." Aver ordered, hearing a chorus of mumbled affirmations from the members of his skimmer squad.

He spent the next fifteen or so minutes contacting the other units of the assault force, advising them of the situation. It turned out that most of them had already detected the same anomaly already and were taking the actions necessary. Sand storms like this were a serious matter in the extreme, but with the proper preparations and thanks to modern technology it could be survived.

After a while longer of driving Aver could see a stationary ping on his sensors: "People, we have a sensors or a turret post out there. Approach with caution, keep in formation and be ready to engage."

His seven skimmers strong squad charged forward in a tight delta formation. In a few moments a coalition sensor came into view. The guns of the skimmer unit opened up, filling the air with high speed armor piercing bullets, tearing apart the sensors post. Just as the sensors post came apart Averios hear his radio to crackle to life: "Skimmer 4, rail 7-4 reporting. Be advised, we're chasing a pack of hostile AAV's through this area, probably a forward reconnaissance team or stragglers from another battle site. Will be moving through your immediate vicinity, be careful."

"Understood, we'll be on guard." Averios answered, then turned his attention back to the situation at hand. "Nice shooting people, get ready to advance. There is likely to be enemy turret defenses ahead, and enemy responders will probably be arriving momentarily so be on alert." he commanded. "Keep an eye out for those enemy AAV's; if they engage us then we are in serious trouble." he then added.

"Sir, should we wait out until the enemy responders arrive. I mean, if there is a turret and enemy units out there and if we get caught between them, well…" Redal asked.

Aver considered. "We don't have a lot of time on this, and we don't even know for certain that such responders are really coming. We don't have a choice. We move forward. We will be fine if we are careful and move forward quickly, keeping the heretics off balance. If the worst comes to pass, we will regroup with the railgun squads and resume our offensive with them." He finally said.

And so they pushed forward, making their way toward the Boneyard facility proper. Soon before them there was a standard Coalition ground turret. The turret gun tower turned toward them, spitting out a pair of high explosive shells. The skimmers responded instinctively, their formation breaking to two pieces and quickly moving to the side, the pair of shells impacting harmlessly on the ground before them.

"Alright, engage the target, circle around and keep moving, and keep firing! Don't let it get a bead on you!" Aver shouted into his radio. His squadron moved to attack, running in circles around the turret, their guns spitting an endless stream of bullets at the hardened armor of the turret, chewing through the plating. The automatic systems of the turret kept tracking them, shooting again and again, raising clouds of sand from the ground. They continued like that for a while, dodging, twisting, and dancing around their foe. Then one of his skimmers moved a fraction too slow. The turret belched out another shot, catching the skimmer squarely in its center. The machine came apart in a blast of shrapnel, black smoke and blue fire. Averios gave a sad wince. "Another youth lost because of me, my fault. Another soul on my conscience." he thought to himself. Before anyone could say or do anything else, a flash of red light came from behind him slamming into the Coalition turret. Weakened as it was by the attacks of the skimmers, the turret was blown apart by the shot, the top of the turret lifting clean off and rising high into the air. Averios turned his skimmer on the spot, whirling to face the thing that had fired the shot, already knowing the answer, even without the friendly class four contact on his radar display. He saw one of their railguns hovering some fifty meters away.

"Rail 7-4, I thought you were going after the AAV's?" he addressed the railgun, recognizing the unit markings it bore.

"We were going to, but the bastards managed to slip away from us using a smokescreen. We figured we should lend you a hand and join up for the next part." the railgun answered.

"All right, we…" Aver began answering, then paused when he noticed a fresh batch of contacts on his radar, hostile this time."

"Ok people, it seems there are hostile responders on their way, a group of enemy LAV's by the looks of it. Reform and prepare to engage, keep them away from the railgun at all costs. 7-4, hang back for now, this isn't the kind of fight you're cut out for. Give us supporting fire when you can, but don't take the risk of getting caught up in the fight. And by Sajuuk's mercy, make sure you don't hit us by accident. This next one is going to be one incredible furball." he commanded.

His squadron reformed around him, and the railgun backed up, taking firing positions on high ground. Then they settled to wait for the enemy to come within visual range.

"Redal, who was the one we lost?" Aver asked on a private channel as they were waiting.

"Devaath, sir." Redal answered. "I'd tell you to not blame yourself, but I know you won't listen to Me." he continued after a while. "There was nothing you could do. It's not your fault."

"No? Maybe not. But I am the reason he was here. Might as well have pulled the trigger myself." Aver said, his voice full of resentment.

If he had not been here, he would be somewhere else, doing something else, and likely finding whole other ways to get himself killed. It's not the kind of choice any of us get to make. We do as Sajuuk and our Kiith-Sa command as best we can. The rest is fate, nothing more." Redal answered.

"I'm tired of losing people, Redal." Aver said, sounding sad and angry. "I'm tired of them being sent out here because of me, and getting killed. I'm tired of having to pretend that it's just how it has to be. I'm tired of fighting, of killing, of people around me dying, and for what? What progress have we made, what good have we done? Sure, we've killed Faagani, but there's more of them each time. Sands take it, I'm tired of everything these days. Sometimes I just want it to be all over, ton not go through this pointless shit anymore."

"That's dangerous talk sir." Redal answered, sounding concerned. "We still need you here. Can't have you giving up on us now. You want to save these people, you have to swallow it up, stop wallowing in self-pity, and do your bloody job as best you are able, because none of us have any hope otherwise. Sir."

Aver sighed. "I get what you're saying, I just…" He paused, noting now that the enemy had drawn close during their conversation, almost to within engagement range.

"We shall continue this discussion at another time" Aver said to Redal, then turned the communication channels to the rest of his unit back on. "Alright, move in and engage, go, go, go!" he commanded his squad.

The enemy LAV's came over the crest of a dune, numbering roughly as many as the Gaalsien sand skimmers. At first they were in tight formation, but they quickly spread out as they noticed the Gaalsien railgun waiting for them. The said railgun took a shot as the two groups of vehicles were on their final approach to each other. The shot struck home, blasting apart the lead enemy vehicle in a flash of flame. Moments later the squads reached each other, and the area of their contact became a chaotic storm of fast moving vehicles, dodging and maneuvering amongst each other, guns chattering as they went. The skimmers were somewhat more maneuverable than the Coalition machines, but the turning turrets of the enemy compensated for this shortcoming quite handily, so the two groups were more or less evenly matched. The railgun hanged soma distance back, firing its gun repeatedly, aiming at the edges of the combat. With the fast paced combat and effort of not hitting its own allies ensured that the railgun scored no more hits. Despite this Aver knew that the railgun's contributions had its uses, limiting the enemy's possible field of movement and making them that much more nervous, that much more likely to break and fall back.

Despite everything, Aver could not help but grin as adrenaline flowed through him. These were the situations that he knew best. These fast paced battles between quick, agile vehicles, where life and death could be decided by a single decision made in the moment, were the moments that he lived for. He turned sharply, sending a hail of bullets against an enemy vehicle that crossed his screen tracing a trail of spider web shaped cracks across its windshield. The enemy LAV skidded forward on its remaining momentum until the vehicle thudded against a small mound of sand, stopping at last. With a start Aver dodged hard to the right to avoid collision with another Coalition vehicle. He succeeded only partially, the LAV clipped against his left side stabilizer. Subconsciously Aver checked his displays and found that the minor collision had left his ship reasonably functional. He quickly pivoted, feeling the forces of inertia press him against his seat, ad fired against the retreating rear of his enemy. The Coalition vehicle's tires shredded, tore and blew, the enemy's driving became erratic, and the machine flipped over violently, crumbling its frame as it rolled over repeatedly, trailing fire, before finally coming to rest on its roof.

And then the fight was over as quickly as it had begun, the remaining Coalition machines turning to flee. He ordered his squad members to sound off, and the listened as they replied one by one, reporting their status. Fortunately it seemed that his squad had survived. Some were reporting damage to varying degrees, but nothing that would necessitate their withdrawal from battle in his estimation. Satisfied that his squad was sufficiently intact to continue their attack he gave the order to pursue the enemy to the Boneyard facility. His squad reformed and advanced the railgun they had with them following a short distance behind. They came over the final rise before the beginning of the outer edge of the base…

…and straight into the sights of a dozen enemy AAV's. Even as his squad came into view the turrets of the enemy vehicles turned to point at them ready to unleash a torrent of death at his squad.

"Evade!" Aver had time to shout, but it was already too late to. The gun barrels of the enemy vehicles began rotating, and soon the air was filled with a storm of heavy projectiles. Half his squad was dead in the blink of an eye. The rest of them broke up and tried to get away, evading incoming fire furiously. It was not working. One by one the remaining members of his squad were getting picked off, their skimmers coming apart in explosions of blue flame. Somehow Aver survived through everything that was getting thrown at him. He quickly drove his skimmer amongst a mess of old Coalition vehicle wrecks, which soon began twisting and exploding in showers of shrapnel as the enemy continued to fire after him. By this time he was the only member of his squad left alive, a fact that was registering somewhere in the back of his mind, although the immediate threat to his own life forced him to push these thought to the sidelines. When he would manage to get out of the current mess he was in he would grieve properly.

After a moment of frantic driving among exploding wrecks Aver emerged back into the open, turning hard to the right and heading back to the place he had come from only moments earlier. The guns of the enemy turned obediently, continuing to fire at him. As he managed to reach the crest of the dune he had come from, he saw their allied railgun again. He also saw a second group of Coalition LAV's assailing it, and almost as soon as he laid eyes on the railgun it was chewed apart, collapsing onto the sand as its hover pods malfunctioned, riddled with bullets. That was the last thing he saw before he heard before he heard a loud noise from behind him and everything around him became a world of spinning and hurt before he was swallowed in darkness.

Aver slowly regained consciousness, spitting sand out from of his mouth as he came to. Then he paused, wondering where the sand had come from. More specifically he was wondering why he was lying on a field of sand. He looked around himself, realizing that his skimmer was nowhere to be found, just bits of red and black metal scattered all around him. How was he here, alive? Why had he not been torn to shreds as his skimmer had been? He raised himself up to a sitting position, grunting in pain as he became aware of the many parts of him that were hurting. He took a look at himself, noting that his clothes were in tatters and he was bleeding from a dozen cuts across his body. His eyes widened as he saw that his left hand was now missing two fingers. He also noticed that his right ear was feeling like it was on fire. When he raised his hand to touch it, he realized to his horror that there was no ear there, only a wet splotch that hurt to touch where it should have been.

It was then he remembered a conversation that he had had some time ago, something that Redal had said about an anomaly that he had detected. This memory sent his thoughts racing in alarm: "Sajuuk have mercy, how long had he been unconscious? Could it be that…?"

He looked around himself then froze as he saw what he had been looking for. Off in the distance and fast approaching there was a wall made up of a thick cloud, roiling and churning as it drew closer, flashes of lightning shining in its depths.

He was dead. He was a dead man breathing. There was no way he could outrun a storm such as this and once it reached him… he did not want to even think what it would do to him. Off in the distance he saw the retreating mass of the Kapisi as it disappeared into the storm front. So, not only was he going to die, he would do so knowing that he had failed, that they all had failed. The enemy had eluded their grasp once again.

Aver gave a long, tired sigh, slumping a little where he was sitting. He felt exhausted, defeated. With nothing else to do, he clasped his hands together, and prayed:

"The unworthy one who names himself Aver offers you prayer in accordance with your commandments, Maker of all things, whose hand shapes what is, Sajuuk. He humbly asks for you to lend him courage, for the end of his life is near at hand, and he fears greatly in his final moments. He asks you to accept his soul, for soon he shall stand before you for his final judgement. Forgive him for his sins, for he is your servant and has striven to do your will as best he was able to see."

"At least there was one good thing to come out of all this." Aver thought to himself bitterly. With his end there would no longer be an excuse to have a manned unit of skimmers. No more lives would be heaped upon his conscience because of his abilities. No more would be lost because he existed.

The storm was now nearly upon him, howling and raging with all its terrifying might, flying grains of sand scratching his skin. His spread his arms outwards in a gesture that was somehow defiance and acceptance both. He closed his eyes and waited.

And then the storm reached him at last…


	8. Chapter 8, On the trail

**Chapter 8; On the trail**

"Storm front impact in four…three…two…one…mark!" Harkath counted. The carrier shook as is entered the sandstorm. The shutters had been closed against the fury of the storm, and so nothing happening outside could be seen. But even now, even here in the armored confines of the command bridge the storm could be heard as a low hum just on the edge of hearing.

"Communication systems are now impaired due to sand storm conditions. Long range communications are unavailable until further notice". Kennae reported from her station.

"Sensor efficiency has likewise been reduced due to storm conditions."

"Understood" Khagaan responded, suppressing a yawn as she did. It had been a long day of dull driving around. Only the stand storm they had now entered offered a break from the monotony and ultimately even that event had ultimately been reduced to textbook preparations and responses, deprived of anything that would make situation a true distraction. Not that boredom was an entirely bad thing. To a soldier such a state was often preferable to the stresses of life threatening battles. Besides, someone somewhere out there was probably feeling far less bored, and likely not feeling pleased at the circumstances in the slightest. Either the units she had sent out to Attack the Boneyard were now engaging the enemy or they soon would be. The sand storm ensured that they would not receive any news of the battle until they themselves reached the Boneyard facility. All they could do was to wish good fortune to the soldiers assigned to the attack and hope for the best.

These thoughts reminded Khagaan to check the time. It was almost midnight according to her watch. "Night crews to posts in ten." She ordered Kennae.

Kennae nodded and turned to give a ship-wide broadcast: "Attention all decks. Night crews are to report to their posts in ten minutes. Morning crews are to relieve night crews at 08:00 hours."

The bridge became alive with commotion as people began to make ready to leave as soon as the night crews showed up to relieve them. Khagaan herself stood up and made ready to leave, giving Arraesh a nod as she passed him. He would remain on the bridge for a while longer, as was his custom, waiting until the night crews had arrived and were on their stations.

As Khagaan was making her way through the corridors of her carrier to her quarters, she came across Truthspeaker Deravis. Truthspeakers were the priesthood of the Gaalsien, tasked with educating others about the will of Sajuuk. They were the ones who dedicated their lives to understanding Sajuuk's truths, so they could teach those truths to other faithful. Deravis had been walking along the corridor, no doubt on his way to his chapel, but paused as he noticed Khagaan.

"Ah, speaker Deravis, how fares my crew?" Khagaan greeted him with a warm tone.

"They fare well enough, considering all that has been going on. I have calmed the raging storms of their thoughts to the best of my ability and offered council and prayer as necessary."

"Mostly there seems to be a general sense of anxiety, an eagerness to get to grips with the enemy."

"Understandable, and I echo their frustrations. It will happen, soon enough. They won't be able to outrun us." Khagaan replied.

"I'm certain the crew will be pleased of that reassurance. I shall continue to offer them the guidance they require in the meantime." Deravis nodded. "On that same note, I trust you have attended to your souls needs as well?" He then asked.

"I shall see to my prayers when as soon as I get to my quarters." Khagaan reassured him. "While we're discussing the matter of attending to one's soul, I gave guardian-engineer Scotha the order to offer repentance for blasphemous use of language. Has he done so?" she asked next.

"Hmph, yes, though I'm not certain if that has accomplished anything of value." Deravis answered wrinkling his nose with a look of disapproval.

"What do you mean by that?" Khagaan asked.

"This isn't the first time I have had to reprimand him. He is the sort of person that apologizes for his sins and goes right back to sinning. He does not understand that an apology is also a promise to not repeat the original offense." Deravis explained.

"And I assume that there is no spiritual remedy you could employ to correct this matter?" Khagaan asked, trying to hide a slight amusement.

"None, except to keep at it and hope that one of these days he actually starts to listen to the things I say to him." Deravis answered dryly.

With a final nod Deravis resumed his journey towards his chapel. Khagaan bit her lower lip, considering. "Truthspeaker Deravis!" she called after him, and he stopped again.

"There… is one matter I would like to discuss, if you have time to speak privately. It is a matter of conscience I would like to unburden myself of."

Deravis nodded. "In my chapel then." he said, motioning for Khagaan to follow him. They walked for some time, through winding corridors, passing other members of the crew making their way to their quarters. Finally they reached the simple metal door leading to Deravisi's chapel a door which he proceeded to open, leading the both of them inside.

The chapel was a small place, able to hold perhaps a hundred people at the most. The chapel was meant for small, day to day services, that did not require the presence of the entire crew. If such a thing would be needed, space could always be arranged in the carrier's main hold. The place was sparsely decorated, red drapes decorating the walls of the room, and rows of hard metal benches on either side of the center corridor cutting across the room. The room was lit by candles rather than electric lights, giving the place a warm, welcoming glow. On the far wall, inside a small alcove made of white marble there was the holy symbol of Sajuuk, scrolls of holy texts hung all around it. Just to the left of this alcove there was a pulpit where Deravis would usually be during the sermons he gave to those that visited his chapel.

Khagaan took a seat on one of the metal benches, with Deravis seating himself opposite to her.

"So, tell me what troubles you, in your own time, in your own way." Deravis said with an encouraging smile and a practiced, compassionate tone.

For a while Khagaan said nothing, wringing her hands, trying to think of the best way to begin. "Ok… I suspect you already have a notion why I wish to speak with you today." she said finally.

"I have a possibility in my mind, but tell me in your own words." Deravis confirmed.

"It has to do with the prisoners from Juno base… how I handled that situation." She spoke slowly, struggling to keep her voice steady.

"Others have spoken of this today. An ugly business to be certain, but a justifiable decision during wartime, based on the accounts I have heard." Deravis said. But I suspect that you now have doubts, otherwise you would have not sought me out." he then added.

"I… yes." Khagaan admitted. "My thoughts keep drifting back to that moment, wondering. I keep telling myself that I had my reasons, that I was justified, but these thoughts won't leave me. I keep wondering if I had to do what I did. I keep wondering if I could have found another way.

"And did you?" Deravis asked.

"I don't know. I don't think so. I didn't have enough people available to keep them as prisoners, and I had a mission to accomplish. I needed every soldier I could have and I could not take any chances of an uprising at the base I had captured." Khagaan said.

"And there you have your answer." Deravis answered. "In your own words and those of your fellow crewmen you had to do what you did. I don't think anyone is pretending that it wasn't an ugly decision to make, but war is full of these decisions, as you well know as a military commander. No one on this ship is blaming you for doing what you had to do. At worst they are cursing the fact that the war is a necessity at this time in our history."

"For Goodness's sake, I **spoke** to one of them!" Khagaan suddenly exclaimed, suddenly angry at what seemed like platitudes being spewed at her. "I spoke to her, I saw her face, I learned her name, and I had her slaughtered all the same!"

Deravis said nothing in response to her outburst, instead choosing to let her vent her bottled up emotions. After her angry words had left her mouth, Khagaan calmed again, taking a deep breath to calm herself.

"We fight this war as much for the northerners as we do for ourselves. My father himself has said that we are to restore them to Sajuuk's truths, to save them. How are we to forge that connection when we slaughter them? When I slaughter them?" Khagaan asked, more calmly but still pointedly.

"I have pushed the rift between us and the northerners further by this bloodshed. They will never forgive me for this." She continued.

"Many will never forgive you," Deravis admitted quietly "but they were never going to do that."

"You have fought the northerners many times." Deravis continued. "You have killed many of them; armed and unarmed, just as they have killed many of us. I have even heard rumors that the accursed Siidim have advocated for the extermination of our Kiith. We do not fight for their forgiveness. Only Sajuuk is worthy of **that** struggle. We fight so that our people might have a future."

Khagaan did not reply, she simply sat there, considering his words.

"As for your father, he knows that the realities of war must often come before the ideals of peacetime. He knows that for the northerners to be returned to the path that must be walked, they must first be broken. They will hate us for it, and all we can hope for is that one day those wounds can heal. Now, a run-of the-mill Truthspeaker might disagree with my assessment, but I have been bringing Sajuuk's truths to our warriors for many decades now. This is a truth he made known to me long ago." He asserted with a voice of confidence.

Khagaan still did not reply, although in her mind she felt slightly more encouraged.

"As such, it is encouraging in a way that his incident bothers you as much as it does. It shows that you are still human. A real monster would not care, no matter how horrific the action taken." Deravis said with a smile.

"Thank you." Khagaan said quietly, gratefully. "Your words mean a great deal."

Still smiling, Deravis gave a small bow of his head "It is my duty to serve. If your concerns still linger, then I suggest that you mention them in your prayers to Sajuuk this night. Let him judge your actions, as he must judge all of us sooner or later. If your cause was just, then he will surely gift you a calm heart and renewed fervor. If you believe that you have sinned, then confess your sins to our creator, ask for forgiveness, so that he may sit in judgement and determine what must be."

"I may do that. Once again, thank you for your wise council, it is invaluable as ever." Khagaan said. "Now I think I must be going. Long days are ahead, and I should avail myself of what rest there is to be had." She then continued, standing up.

"I shall look forward to our next meeting then." Deravis replied with a nod.

With their meeting concluded, Khagaan left and returned to her quarters. Upon arrival she took a moment look at a series of framed pictures on a side table. One was a picture of her family, including her mother, who had died of fever many years ago. Another was of her and her little sister when they had both still been in their girlhood years, giving goofy smiles to the camera. The next picture was somewhat larger than the rest, depicting all who had graduated from officer school on her graduation year. That had been one of the proudest days of her life. From the same day there was one picture of her in full ceremonial uniform with a stern look on her face. Then there was the group picture of her original command crew, with the Ashoka in the background. Many of those people were now gone, having died in the wars or having moved on to other commands as they had been promoted. One or two had even quit the military and chosen to return to civilian occupations. Still, enough familiar faces remained, Arraesh and Jiire foremost among them. As she studied these pictures, a small smile tugged the corner of her mouth as her mind was drawn back to simpler days, without the worries and responsibilities she had now.

Finally she decided that she had had enough reminiscing. So she turned to a corner of her quarters where she had a small private shrine to Sajuuk. Kneeling before that shrine she took a small flask containing blessed oil. She poured some of this into her hand, then dipped the tips of two of the fingers of her other hang in the liquid.

"Sajuuk, creator, whose hand shapes what is, hear me this day, as I renew my covenant with your holy will." She said.

She pressed the two fingers dipped in oil onto the center of her forehead.

"I think the thoughts that you would have me think."

She pressed her fingers against her upper lip.

"I speak the words that you would have me speak."

Finally, she pressed her fingers against her chest.

"I cherish your sacred will in my heart."

She wiped her hands clean of the oil with a piece of white cloth, then clasped her hands together in prayer, bowing her head.

"The unworthy one who names herself Khagaan offers you prayer in accordance with your commandments, Maker of all things, whose hand shapes what is, Sajuuk. She comes before you this day to confess to you the sins she has committed and ask for your divine forgiveness for sins both known and unknown to her. She admits to the sin of technology, of deviating from the path and structure of life that the Great maker has deemed right and appropriate. She asserts that she did this so that she and her kin could match the power of the heretics who defy the will of our creator. She claims that once her crusade is concluded the proper path shall be restore to her and her kin. She acknowledges this failure and begs for Sajuuk to give absolution."

For a moment Khagaan paused, biting her lower lip gathering the will to say the next part with a deep draw of breath.

"She admits to the sin of kinslaying. In the pursuit of war she has spilled the blood of her people. The sands are stained, never to be cleansed. She…admits that even those who had surrendered to her authority and the might of her war host were put to the sword under her orders. This sin weighs heavily on her. She does not contest the brutality or the savagery of her actions. She asserts that her actions were born of a desire to serve Sajuuk as he has compelled her to, and that her actions were dictated by the necessities of the war she fights. She acknowledges this failure and begs for Sajuuk to give absolution."

Khagaan moved onto the final parts of her prayer:

"She admits to the sins that she has committed without her knowledge, to the sins she has left unnamed, as well as all the sins she does not recall to recite them. She acknowledges these failures and begs for Sajuuk to give absolution."

Several moments or reverent silence followed as Khagaan contemplated her actions that had taken place that day.

"So speaks the unworthy one that names herself Khagaan. She asks that you reaffirm your alliance with her and her Kiith this day and the days to come. She asks that you forgive her trespasses against you, for she is flawed, imperfect, a thing of nothing compared to your glory, born to a people that failed you. She asks that you forge her the righteous path to walk and illuminate it for her to follow. She asks that you shield her and her kin from the wrath of her foes and the soulless Khaaneph warriors, the empty ones of the deserts." She said in conclusion.

With her prayer concluded, she used a part of her daily water allowance to take a shower and went to sleep. It would not be until the next morning that she would learn that their gambit to intercept the Kapisi had failed, that the enemy carrier had escaped and that the enemy had sabotaged the dockyard facilities, preventing any possibility of completing the repairs of the Ashoka. Thanks to a recorded message on a communications node left by the production cruiser that had led the assault, she learned that the said production cruiser had moved on to regroup and continue to engage the Kapisi. She also learned the last known vector of the Kapisi from the recording and ordered a full pursuit to the region known as Hell's Gate, where the Kapisi was headed.


	9. Chapter 9, Gates of hell

**Chapter 9; Gates of hell**

Wind.

Wind and sand.

The world around the Ashoka was a raging maelstrom of incomprehensibly potent forces. They were now at heart of the storm, where its winds blew strongest. In ancient days storms like this one had commanded dread and awe, the glory of Sajuuk`s works made manifest for all to see. Even after the first crude sand skiffs that utilized such storms had been created, there had remained a cautious respect for the power of this thing of nature. Only those who showed deference to the wonders of nature that Sajuuk had forged could survive and perhaps benefit. Those who were disrespectful would attain only death. Khagaan could only marvel this majestic phenomenon, her mind filled with quiet awe. In the old days sand sailors had always skirted the edges of the seasonal storms, taking great pains to avoid getting too close. It would have been pure insanity in those days to seek to approach the core of the storm as the Ashoka had done now, spelling certain doom to anyone stupid enough to attempt it. And yet they were here, alive and unharmed, their fragile frames protected by the technological miracle they had designed to match the miracle of nature. Khagaan could not quite decide how she felt about that. On one hand she felt a sense of accomplishment, having done something that her ancestors could never have done. Such capabilities were the only reason that her kiith were able to live in the deep deserts, that much was fact. Yet her upbringing had taught her that it was not the place of any kiith to defy or seek to tame the creations of Sajuuk. Such objectives could easily lead to vanity and attempts to usurp the place Sajuuk had ordained for all things in the structures of existence, a mad concept that could only be brought about by the greatest arrogance. It had been the original failing of her people, so long ago and so far away that almost no texts spoke of it. To know that you were wholly dependent of something that your faith taught you should despise was the strangest feeling.

The fact that they were alive did not mean that they were completely unaffected. Sensors and communication systems continued to be severely reduced, and in fact they had not been in contact with the Renza or any other carrier of their formation for some time. Even local communications between the units of the Ashoka's fleet were sketchy, static and signal loss making it difficult to discern what was being reported. Kennae was forced to ask her counterparts in the field to repeat themselves all the time it seemed. The sandstorm also meant that they couldn't see anything in front of them, despite the floodlights Khagaan had illuminating the surrounding terrain. Their onboard sensors were of no use either, plagued as they were by disturbance and ghost signals made by nonexistent ships. It was impossible to say where their enemies might be hidden, or indeed if their enemy was anywhere in the vicinity. Currently Khagaan had a screen of sentries surrounding the carrier, the bulk of her fleet advancing as a single formation while a smaller force was scouting the terrain ahead of them. She would have preferred to have her air units perform reconnaissance as well, but the weather conditions made this utterly impossible. This also meant that in the event of battle her units would have no air support, which was something else she was not very fond of in this situation. Without adequate support options available, even the simplest of engagements could turn into an ugly bloodbath.

Perhaps it was a mixed blessing that it was increasingly starting to seem that there was nothing to fight here.

"There are definitely signs of battle here." Harkath reported from his station.

"And you are certain that these battle signs are recent?" Khagaan asked, remembering an earlier battle that had taken place here several years ago.

"As certain as is possible under the current circumstances, Lady-Protector." Harkath answered. "Storm conditions continue to impede our sensor systems, but there are clear indications of heavy weapons fire in the surrounding terrain." He continued.

"Our scouts are also reporting a considerable number of wrecks in the area, ours and those of the enemy. Many of these seem too intact to be anything but recent origin." Kennae remarked from her station.

"So the Kapisi at least was here, just as we thought." Khagaan said thoughtfully. "But are they here still here? That's what we must figure out." She told herself. "Are there any indications that there are still active enemy units in the field?" She asked.

"Not that I can tell." Harkath and Kennae said in unison, then shot surprised glances at each other.

"Understood." Khagaan said simply, ignoring the moment. "Jiire, take us further into the valley, slow and steady. R'kath, the full weapons readiness status is to remain in effect until further notice. Kennae, inform our fleet to continue their advance. All personnel are to continue to man their battlestations until we can ascertain that the area is secure."

The carrier lurched slightly as its engines powered up again and they resumed their advance. Around them the other fleet units swarmed along protectively, ready to destroy anything that tried to threaten the carrier or the rest of the fleet. Her salvagers were moving amidst the wreckage of the battle that had raged there along with a few military units for protection, collecting what resources they could as well as looking for Gaalsien survivors. With the weather being what it was, the chance of there being survivors out there were low, but most of the Gaalsien Khagaan knew would much rather cling to a slim hope rather than abandon their own to die because of negligence. The members of one's kiith were family, and family was never to be forsaken.

"Our scanner are now detecting the wreckage of the Ifriit-Naabal command carrier." Harkath announced after a few moments. As it happened, the carrier wreck would now have been within visual range if not for the giant dune that was blocking their view. Some of the fleet units of the Ashoka advanced beyond this dune, delivering grainy video footage of the enormous wreck of the enemy carrier, half-buried in the sand Harkath looked at his screen, adjusting the settings of his instrumentation repeatedly. "It would seem that this was a major combat zone in the battle that took place here. There are numerous allied and enemy vehicle wrecks in the area before us." He said finally.

"Curious, I wonder why they chose to focus their attentions here." Arraesh wondered aloud.

"Something in the Ifriit-Naabal maybe?" Khagaan offered.

"That might be it, it's not like there is anything else interesting around here." Arraes agreed. "Should we take a look?" he then asked.

"Perhaps, but not before we have a concrete reason to do so. I don't want to send people into a potentially unstable wreck in the middle of a class five sandstorm unless we know exactly what we stand to gain."

Khagaan turned to address Harkath and Kennae again: "Is there any sign of the production cruiser that was supposed to be here?"

"I have heard nothing but static on the channels assigned to the production cruiser or its associated units. That might not mean as much under these circumstances as it might otherwise." Kennae replied. "Also I think I should mention that I have found no indications of another communications node in the area."

"So unless we find some clue around here, we have no idea where the Kapisi might have gone." Khagaan sighed. "Guardian Harkath, do you have anything to add to that?"

"Only that there seems to be nothing else functional out there besides us and ours according to my scanners. Sandstorm conditions would also have eradicated any obvious signs of the Kapisi's passage through the area." Harkath stated in reply.

"Damn" Khagaan cursed. "Without a new lead were stuck."

"I'm afraid so." Arraesh confirmed with regret in his voice.

Khagaan's dark musings were interrupted by the voice of Harkath: "What on Kharak…? Lady-Protector, I'm picking up a faint energy signature among one of the wrecks. It's very faint… most likely an emergency power source."

"Can you pinpoint the source?" Khagaan asked, suddenly animated.

"I seems to be coming from deeper in the region, somewhere beyond the Ifriit-Naabal's location, but that's all I can say reliably for the moment." Harkath replied.

"There seems to be a radio signal emanating somewhere out there in the same region. Repeating pattern… garbled…trying to compensate for interference." Kennae added. "It seems to be an SOS transmission. The repeating pattern suggests an automated system." She added after a few moments of listening to her headset.

"Or an attempt to make sure that the signals gets through no matter what." Arraesh offered.

"This signal, is it friendly or hostile?" Khagaan asked.

"IFF recognition systems are still processing." Kennae replied. "All right, I'm getting the data now. IFF reads as… friendly. It's one of ours." she soon continued.

"So there is a chance of survivors or valuable information being out there?" Khagaan wondered aloud.

"Could be." Arraesh agreed. "It could also be a trap."

Khagaan nodded severely. "With the situation being what it is, I think that's a risk we must take. Kennae, relay the order to deploy a recovery team with a security escort. Orders are to investigate the source if that signal while practicing extreme caution."

Very soon after that they were watching video footage relayed by the units that had been sent, observing the wreckage of the destroyed production cruiser that those units discovered.

"I'm getting some new readings sent by the units on the field." Harkath said as they watched. "The production cruiser has been blasted to pieces. There are signs of heavy weapons fire, most likely caused by railguns. The stuff we're seeing is mostly just twisted metal, no functioning electronics, computers or power sources present except for the power signature we detected earlier. The said signal is still steady however. I'm trying to narrow down its location now.

After a few moments of further scanning Harkath continued: "There we go. The signal is emanating from that broken off deck section now on display on viewing screen four. Power readings are consistent with an occupied emergency survival pod. Lady-Protector… I think we might have a survivor."

"The SOS message we are continuing to receive would support this conclusion."

Khagaan could not suppress a relieved smile: "Then perhaps we have not lost the trail after all. Have our salvage team collect the survival pod, carefully. Tell them to take every precaution that whoever the occupant of that pod might be, they survive. Have receiving crews and medical staff on standby in the main hold for their arrival.

Khagaan then paused, considering something. "Arraesh," she said finally "I have reconsidered sending a team to investigate the Ifriit-Naabal wreckage. We may require additional clues and that wreck may hold them. If there is something to find there then I want it found without delay. You will be in charge of this operation, Arraesh. With our primary mission objectives at stake, I believe I should debrief our lone survivor personally."

"Kennae, inform the appropriate personnel that I wish to be informed of the survivors status as soon as possible. When and if the survivor is fit to be interviewed he is to be brought to the main conference room, I shall be waiting there, so divert further attempts to communicate with me personally to that location until I return to the command bridge. Outside this matter I'm to be disturbed only with matters of critical urgency, Arraesh will handle the rest for the time being."

Some hours later Khagaan was sitting in the conference room looking at the only survivor of the task group she had dispatched to assault the Kapisi several days ago, a man identified as defender Khertan. When he had been found in his pod, he had been emotionally scarred, dehydrated and had sustained minor injuries, but he had been alive. For more than an hour Khagaan and him had been working through the events that had happened here. Progress had been slow, with Khertan breaking down into a sobbing mess more than once during his debrief. Yet Khagaan had persevered, patiently working with this broken soldier to slowly piece together the events as they had unfolded. Had the matter been less urgent, Khagaan would have been content to wait until Khertan was able to produce a report of the events on his own time, when he was comfortable doing so. She would have probably allowed him to make his report in written form so he wouldn't have to endure the pressure of a face to face meeting with a commanding officer. As fate would have it, practical wartime considerations once again conspired against her and kept her from giving the leniency she had wanted to give.

"So, to summarize, you used the storm conditions and your greater mobility to sneak past the Kapisi." Khagaan staded.

"Yes" Khertan said simply, his voice colorless, holding the steaming cup of coffee he had been provided with both hands, staring into the depths of the slowly swirling black fluid.

"Having correctly deduced the next destination of the Kapisi, you made your way into this area and made preparations for delaying combat in preparation for the arrival of our battlegroup, intending to use the storm to hide your production cruiser from a superior enemy force." Khagaan continued.

Khertan nodded.

"The enemy engaged your forces around midday and managed to push you back from your outermost defensive positions."

"Yes"

"And one they reached the wreck of the Iifrit-Naabal carrier, they halted their advance and loitered around the wreck for several minutes for reasons unknown, taking considerable risks by sending a sizeable portion of their fleet units to protect a science team they deployed. You launched several offensives against the science team, their escort and the enemy carrier itself, all of which were eventually repulsed."

"Yes"

"And afterwards the enemy quit the positions they had been holding and somehow vectored their way directly into your position, overwhelming your cruiser and associated fleet units. This despite storm interference that should have hidden you from detection."

Another nod.

"And you have no speculation as to how the enemy was able to accomplish this action?"

"No. Nothing" Khertan said, trying to keep his voice from breaking.

"You're certain there was no mistake involved, a misdirected radio transmission perhaps or failure of light discipline or even an enemy scout that you did not detect?"

Khertan looked up at her, his face suddenly indignant: "Just what are you implying?"

"Nothing. I imply nothing." Khagaan said apologetically. "I'm simply trying to understand how our enemy was able to accomplish the seemingly impossible. This trick defies everything we know about desert warfare. Regardless, I'm certain that your people did all they could to achieve victory." Her words seemed to settle Khertan somewhat, and he went back to staring into his coffee cup.

"Well, if you have no explanation to give then I guess it is up to the rest of us to find the answer." Khagaan said, nodding. "There is one more thing I need to ask you about. Do you have information as to which way the Kapisi might have gone after the engagement?"

"I did see the carrier leave the field from my pod, after they had…after..." Khertan stammered, tapering to a halt mid-sentence, his voice broken with sorrow.

"And which way did our enemies go?" Khagaan asked. Khertan did not answer, but simply stared into nothingness, now lost in his own thoughts. "Soldier?" Khagaan asked after several moments of silence. Still, he got no response from Khertan. "Soldier!" Khagaan said again, more sharply this time, leaning over the table, bringing her face to level with his, causing Khertan to snap to awareness.

"I need the Kapisi's vector. Where did they go?"Khagaan asked. "Please" she added after she realized how harsh her words had come across.

"Um… s-south I think. Yes, south, definitely south." Khertan said uncertainly.

"South? You're certain of this?" Khagaan asked, surprised. This was not the vector she had been expecting.

"Yes, I'm certain." Khertan answered, anger rising in his voice.

"You are absolutely certain that they did not go southeast or east? It is important." Khagaan pressed.

"I told you already they went south! I have answered your questions, what more do you want from me!?" Khertan shouted, threatening to become hysterical.

"I apologize." Khagaan said, raising her hands defensively. "I meant no offence. It simply… It was not what I had anticipated. But I have no reason to doubt your words. If you tell me that they went south, then that is what I must accept. Now, you have been through a lot. I suggest that you take a few days off, and that you speak with truthspeaker Deravis at you earliest convenience. I'll tell him to expect you."

Khertan nodded, somewhat calmer now.

"He is really good at his work, he has helped me when I needed understanding words more than once. I will make the decision whether or not to reassign you once I have more recommendations to go by. You can go now." Khagaan said with sympathy in her voice.

Khertan stood up, giving a salute which Khagaan returned, and then made his way out without saying another word. After taking a moment to collect her thoughts on the debrief and its revelations, Khagaan left as well, making her way back to the command center. "So?" Arraesh asked when he noticed that she had returned.

"South." Khagaan said simply.

"South!?" Arraesh repeated in surprised disbelief.

"My reaction exactly." Khagaan responded. "It just doesn't make any damn sense. There is no reason to approach the equatorial regions now. It seems like a waste of resources and effort with their available tech. What do they think they could possibly stand to gain by doing this now?" Khagaan sighed, frustrated with illogicality of the situation. "Did your team find anything?" she asked next.

"Well, it's certain now that the Kapisi's science team did enter the Ifriit-Naabal wreckage. It also seems that they found and removed some technology from the wreckage. We're not certain what that technology might have been, but it likely had something to do with their sensor systems given the evidence we've uncovered." Arraesh answered.

"You mean artefact tech? We tore that wreck apart looking for anything the enemy might have stolen, and now you're telling me that we might have missed something anyway?" Khagaan asked pointedly.

Arraesh shrugged. "The Coalition types know their ships better than we ever will. It would be far easier for them to notice what is out of place."

"Artefact technology would certainly explain a few things." Khagaan said, considering. "Defender Khertan, the survivor I debriefed, told me that the Kapisi somehow managed to find them and hit them after they left the wreckage despite the best efforts of our people to hide from detection. You think the Faagani found some kind of sensor boosting system, or maybe even a whole new type of scanner?"

"Both cases are plausible, very plausible in fact." Arraesh agreed. "Still doesn't explain their choice of course though. Plus if we don't know exactly where they are going it's far too easy for them to give us the slip. We might end up just wasting our time trying to catch them."

"Indeed. We need more information" Khagaan agreed. "Harkath, call up a map of the theatre of operations. Show me resource deposits, artefact sites and locations of strategic value whether ours or known locations of the enemy. Anything that might give us a clue about the Kapisi's destination." Khagaan commanded, sitting back to her chair. After a few moments the map she had asked for flared into life, followed shortly by various markers for different location types.

Khagaan stared at the map, seeking some clue to follow, unsure what exactly she was looking for. "Where would you go, little Kapisi, where would you…?" She muttered to herself before a possibility dawned on her. "Harkath, do we have the travel route of the Ifriit-Naabal carrier?" she asked.

"Um…let me see... most of the route is here, it would seem. It's a largely a speculative route based on sightings and other information, but…" Harkath said in response

"That's good enough, just show it on the map please." Khagaan told her sensors officer. The said route appeared on the map that instant, drawn in red. Khagaan traced the route with her finger, causing small ripples on the holographic display. "There," she said after she found the spot she had been looking for, pointing at the location "the Kalash site."

"You believe the Kapisi has gone there?" Arraesh asked.

"It would make perfect sense. Look." Khagaan explained with excitement in her voice. "The Ifriit-Naabal came through here, just as the Kapisi did. After they ran across our patrol force they were pushed out of their original course driven southwards, where they eventually stumbled into the Kalash site. They tried to fortify the location and harvest the wreckage."

Arraesh nodded his understanding thus far, and Khagaan continued her explanation. "After we pushed them out they looped back to where we are now and got stuck in a dune collapse. Now consider what the Kapisi has done. They came here, found the wreckage of their previous expedition, conducted a recovery operation of unknown technology, then unexpectedly turned south, like the Ifriit-Naabal did, except this time there is no military threat that would have forced them to do so."

Arraesh continued to nod, slowly beginning to understand what Khagaan was going on about.

"I believe that the enemy is following the path of the previous expedition. They must have found something, something that pointed them to that path, with the Kalash location lying at its end." Khagaan stated with conviction.

"If this correct, the Kalash site might be in danger." Arraesh said with concern in her voice. "The Faagani tried to violate the location the last time they were there, there's no telling what this second wave might do.

"Indeed." Khagaan agreed. "I think we should leave for the Kalash site as soon as we are able to do so. We will also send word to any available patrols we have in the region, they can delay enemy operations and bolster our forces when we arrive."

"I just hope no one else ends up needing those forces anytime soon" Khagaan added, realizing that her orders would deprive many reserve forces from the Gaalsien offensive against the north.

"What of the Renza?" Arraesh asked. "They are still headed to Hells Gate, and they know nothing that has transpired here."

"As soon as the weather clears up we will contact them and give them a situation update." Khagaan replied. "Just in case we will leave a communications node here for them. That however, I believe is the extent of what we can do under the circumstances. The longer we wait, the greater the risk that we arrive too late."

"Jiire, program the course for the Kalash location and prepare to move out on my order. Calculate for best possible speed."

"Understood. Kalash location, best possible speed." Jiire replied. "As if I ever did otherwise." Khagaan heard Jiire say under her breath in a light, joking tone.

"Kennae, give the order for our units to make preparations to move out as soon as possible. We will be setting out as soon as our salvager have collected sufficient resources."

As Kennae and Jiire proceeded to follow their orders Khagaan turned her thoughts to the Kalash site. "I kept that holy site from being defiled the last time, I won't let the enemy tarnish the location this time either. We have to make it in time" she thought to herself.


	10. Chapter 10, Betrayals of falsehood

**Chapter 10; Betrayals of falsehood**

"We're beginning our final approach to the Kalash location. I estimate that we will be in our final holding position in fifteen minutes." Jiire announced from her station.

"The forward units of our fleets report that they are moving forward and engaging the enemy. I'm bringing your battlefield communication systems online now, Lady-Protector."Kennae said next.

"Understood and thank you." Khagaan said nodding. Sher then turned her gaze to the upper deck, meeting the eyes of her flight officer: "Ziel, deploy air reconnaissance unit."

"Air reconnaissance deploying, aye." Ziel said in response. A trio of Gaalsien interceptors departed from the carrier moments later.

As they were making their final approach, Khagaan considered the odds of the battle that was about to begin. She felt confident that victory could be secured today, despite that fact that the enemy had likely fortified this location and the fact that Gaalsien had only limited information of the potential composition of enemy fleet units, largely based on enemy wreckage discovered from earlier battle sites and theoretical estimates on the Kapisi's potential readiness based on the carriers accelerated launch schedule. She had a strong force with her, well suited to combat in equatorial desert conditions, against a cornered, half-prepared enemy that had been worn out in prior engagements with Gaalsien forces already. None of the local patrols she had directed to attack the Kapisi here beforehand had reported back as of yet, so she had to assume that those units had been defeated, but doubtless those units had made the enemy bleed before they fell. With the weather clearing up, they had been able to reestablish contact with the Renza and advise them of the situation, so reinforcements were on route as well. If the worst came to pass she could simply bunker down, hold her ground and wait for their arrival, and then she would have the enemy carrier outnumbered two to one.

"Our field units are now reporting that they have engaged the enemy. Hostile forces are falling back to the main wreck site." Kennae interrupted her musings. "Our forces are reporting that the enemy has engaged in salvage operations in the area, just as we suspected."

"Very well." Khagaan said, and turned her own communications channel open: "Command to all units, secure the valley region, then regroup and hold your positions until given orders to attack the final enemy location."

She then turned to speak to her sensors officer: "Harkath, as soon as our air units get close to the main wreckage site, give me camera footage of the area. I want to see what these Coalition types have managed to do."

"Time to holding positions… five minutes." Jiire called out from her post.

"Air scout camera footage now becoming available, relaying to your console." Harkath said next, filling Khagaan's screen with video images. Khagaan could not help but notice the sound of disbelief in his voice, how shocked he was by something he had seen.

"No…" Khagaan breathed as she saw the scene the cameras of her air scouts were relaying. The Kapisi was nestling in the wreck site, along with prepared defenses and the bulk of the enemy carrier's fleet. Even as she watched her air units had to turn and flee as the enemy anti-air turrets opened fire, one of her interceptors tumbling out of the skies, streaming black smoke. But this was not the reason she was horrified, no. That was caused by a whole other sight: The Kalash site had been violated, blasted open by what could only have detonations of mining explosives. Coalition salvagers were working on the site even now, moving to and fro between wreck sections and the support cruisers stationed nearby, the lights of their phased disassembler arrays shining. This place was ancient, an echo of chosen peoples that had traversed the garden of the stars themselves, loaded with memory and religious significance, and the heretics had destroyed it to plunder the wealth of resources contained within. It was a great crime that this had happened.

"We're too late." Khagaan said with sadness, still not believing what her eyes were seeing. Beside her, Arraesh simply shook his head, his expression grim, clearly as dismayed as Khagaan was feeling.

"Those arrogant, irreverent, disrespectful…." Khagaan rumbled, anger replacing the sorrow in her voice. "Kennae, give me a channel to the enemy carrier, send only. I have a message to give these filth."

Her expression dark, Kennae followed the order she had been given, nodding to Khagaan when she was done.

And so Khagaan spoke with terrible, cold anger in her words:

"S'jet carrier Kapisi, there can be no hiding from the Gaalsien in the Great Desert. We **are** the desert. As before, you have violated this holy site, only now you've chosen to destroy it, pillaging it's sacred artefacts to serve your profane ambitions. You may go no further. Prepare to face the wrath of Sajuuk, and beg his divine forgiveness. I will pray for your souls."

Having overheard her words on the radio, her units moved forward, already anticipating the order to attack. Khagaan turned off the channel she had used to address her enemies proceeded to give orders to her fleet:

"Siege cruisers and anti-air squadron four, establish a defensive perimeter around my carrier and hold your ground. Everyone else, advance and annihilate these heretics. The Faagani have violated the sanctity of this place. For that they deserve nothing but their deaths from us. Show no mercy, no hesitation, take no prisoners. Wipe. Them. Out."

Her units followed their orders, swarming toward the narrow paths that led up to the hill where the enemy was holed up.

"Be careful, the narrow paths make for a perfect position for mines. Keep your eyes open and sweep the area with gunfire if you have to." Khagaan said to her fleet as they neared the beginning of their climb. And true enough, no sooner had she said that when she saw in the camera there was a blast of dirt and one of her assault ships flipped over, its bottom torn open. Seeing this happen, the units of her fleets opened fire, briefly covering the rest of the pathway with explosions before resuming their efforts to advance. The mines now cleared, fighting soon began on the top of the hill. With the enemy fortifications and several fleet units present, Khagaans forces took considerable losses, but still managed to gain a foothold. As Khagaan watched the scene unfold, listening to the radio chatter and the reports Harkath and Kennae were giving, it was soon becoming clear to her that her forces were gaining the upper hand in this fight despite the fierce resistance the northerners were giving.

"It seems that I win this round, Roman. Unfortunately this will also be the last dance we will be having together." Khagaan said to herself, a smirk tugging the corner of her mouth.

"Lady-Protector, I'm detecting a new type two ground contact, now entering local battle area, type five, four, and three contacts surrounding, mixed ground and airborne signals. A carrier and fleet it would seem. Running contacts through IFF –checks now." Harkath reported, smiling at the successful ongoing battle.

"The Renza? Already? I thought they were further out than this." Khagaan wondered, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, maybe they…" Harkath began to say. Then his smile froze: "Wait a minute, that can't be right… all the IFF pings are coming back as hostile. That's not the Renza… it's a damned enemy fleet! New Coalition units inbound!" he shouted, alarmed.

"WHAT!? You're certain!?" Khagaan shouted in disbelief. "Fuck!" she then cursed without even waiting for a reply, turning to shout into her communications unit: "All fleet units! Additional enemy carrier and fleet is entering our battlespace! Abort the offensive against the Kapisi! Fall back and regroup with our carrier ASAP! I repeat, additional hostile carrier and fleet in our battlespace, fall back immediately!"

"Airborne hostile bomber detected! Tracking vector and… tell skimmer two and assault six to take evasive action, bomber incoming!" Harkath warned Kennae. Sadly his warning was already too late as just in that moment a bomb separated from the body of the aircraft, plummeting through the air and annihilating itself in a storm of shrapnel, taking out the Gaalsien forces within its blast radius.

"Damn it, call reserve crews to their positions and alert engineering to begin manufacturing replacement units immediately." Khagaan ordered. "And someone give me a positive identification on the new enemy carrier. I want to know who in Sajuuk's name were fighting." She added.

Khagaan watched as her units were doing their best to disengage and fall back to the relative safety near her carrier. Caught between two groups of hostiles, many of them were not making it. For each ship that managed to slip away, two more were being gunned down by enemy air and ground units. "Sajuuk have mercy…" She gasped as she watched the scene of destruction unfold. Khagaan did what she could to protect her fleet, ordering flights of her interceptors to cover the retreat of her ground units with airstrikes, but the enemy anti-air defenses were well prepared against such a maneuver. After the initial exchanges Khagaan had no choice but to recall her fighters and decline further requests to launch in order to conserve her remaining air power and pilots.

"Arraesh, how long before the Renza can get here?" Khagaan asked, trying to keep concern from her voice, even though she knew that she was now suddenly outnumbered two carriers to one with a severely depleted fleet, the circumstances of the battlefield now completely reversed.

"Unknown, too long I would say." Arraesh replied, giving her a knowing look. He too understood how dangerous this situation was.

"Alright, all remaining fleet units, regroup into defensive positions and prepare to hold the line. Kennae, get the Renza on long range comms, advise them of our situation and tell them to hurry to our location with all available speed, with possible updated orders to follow as our engagement develops." Khagaan ordered. She then turned back to her sensors officer:

"Harkath, where's that identification of the second enemy carrier"

"Working on it." Harkath replied. "Air surveillance footage is available from the airstrikes you ordered. Footage is of a poor quality, but the visible hull markings and paintwork suggests units belonging to kiith Siidim. Would you like to see for yourself?"

"Yes, definitely, show me." Khagaan nodded. The frozen frames on her screen now displayed on her screen confirmed what Harkath had been saying: The blurry but still distinguishable kiith insignias, the hulls painted grey-blue and white stripes. There was no mistaking the allegiance of these Coalition units.

"Siidim…" Khagaan repeated quietly, her voice full of loathing. Among the Gaalsien there were few enemies as hated as this filthy kiith. Certainly Manaani could draw out angry outbursts for their irreverent manner and the Khaaneph inspire terror and dismay for their soulless barbarism, but the hate felt against this kiith was an older, darker thing, a heritage from ages now long since passed. In the ancient days when kiith had still fought each other with blades of crude iron or steel and bows fashioned from animal horns, the Siidim had been bitter foes of her kiith, battling each other in an endless war for the soul of Kharak, a war renewed in this modern era in the struggles against the Coalition. During the history lessons of her youth she had learned of how the Siidim in their madness had restored the sin of pride and taken it further still, turning its cruelty against their own people, declaring themselves starborn, claiming all other kiith to be beneath them. She had learned how her kiith had valiantly stood against them, protecting true faith from their heresies. She had learned how the chaos of those war-torn years had ultimately driven kiith Naabal to resort to advanced weapons and technology in an effort to end the war, a display of yet another kind of madness, one than nonetheless had seen both her kiith and the Siidim crushed, defeated by forces they could not control or understand at the time. Yet even in defeat her kiith had sought to carry out their duty to the people of Kharak and Sajuuk. Rather than give in to despair, the Gaalsien had chosen to retreat to the deep desert with what knowledge and resources they had left, burying the city of Saju-Ka under the sands to keep it from unworthy hands and strip away false pride as they prepared for the struggles of the future. Every event that had transpired to bring Khagaan and her crew here on this day of battle had its root cause in the Siidim, in their damnable pride and filthy heresies. Indeed they were ultimately to blame that danger existed to the Kiithid of Kharak this day, danger that necessitated a war to end its threat.

Theirs was the fault, the blame, and the inevitable penalty. And now this ancient enemy was here, brazen as they please, shedding the blood of her people as they had done in the elder days. The corrupt of heart had allied with the blind.

Khagaan frowned, wondering how any of what was happening was even possible. All carrier fleets associated with the Siidim should have been in the north to protect the Coalition home territories from the Gaalsien offensive there. And yet the enemy was here, apparently defying logic and sanctity both. Khagaan's frown deepened as she noticed something familiar about the structure of the enemy carrier.

"That other carrier… it has the same hull design as the Kapisi does it not?" Khagaan said to Arraesh.

"I noticed that too, clear similarities." Arraesh said, nodding his confirmation.

"But I thought these Coalition carriers were new?" Khagaan wondered. "Could there really have been yet another carrier that we didn't know about?" she asked of Arraesh.

"No, that would make no sense." Arraesh replied, shaking his head. "The intel we received was absolute. The resources and industry required to build a carrier leaves behind a paper trail that is impossible to miss by any spy worthy of their title, particularly when a new design is in question.

"Then how…" Khagaan began to ask before the voice of Harkath: Lady-Protector, I have a positive identification, but it just doesn't seem possible…"

"Talk to me Harkath, what did you find out?" Khagaan asked.

"Well, I compared the carrier's reactor energy signature to known profiles that we had on file and…" Harkath explained before tapering to a halt, apparently reluctant to complete his sentence.

"And?" Khagaan insistently.

"The energy signature was a perfect match for the Siidim carrier Sakala." Harkath finished.

"That's not possible." Khagaan stated flatly, confusion in her voice.

"Ma'am, each energy signature is unique to a specific reactor due to minute but inherent differences in their structures. Even when comparing carriers made using the same blueprint these differences are observable with the appropriate scanners, and always distinct. There is no chance of a mistake here. That is the Sakala, without question." Harkath explained. Then he turned back to his console and the alarm that was now flashing there. "Enemy units approaching, enemy attack wave incoming." he said.

"Siege cruisers requesting permission to open fire." Khagaan heard on her radio.

"Permission granted, fire as soon as the enemy enters effective range. Fire at will, fire at will!" Khagaan replied, springing into action, pushing the startling revelations from few moments ago away for the time being.

Outside, her siege cruisers opened fire, sending a cloud of heavy shells hurtling through the air to detonate amidst the approaching enemies. For a time it worked, the storm of explosions tearing apart the swarm of LAVs that had been moving to attack them, sending the survivors into retreat. The Gaalsien launched a counteroffensive that sadly ran up against stiff resistance and was soon driven back.

"Coalition air units inbound!" Harkath reported next, and true enough, a force of them appeared, coming from the direction of the Kapisi. They charged through the air, towards the siege cruisers with the clear intention of taking them out. Khagaan's anti-air units opened fire at them, managing to destroy some of the attacking aircraft, but it was not enough. A flurry of missiles slammed into her cruisers and one by one they began to die, turning into flaming debris. It was becoming clear to Khagaan that the situation was quickly deteriorating beyond her control.

"Damn it! All units fall back, fall back! Jiire, get us out of here!" Khagaan shouted.

"Course?" Jiire asked in response.

Khagaan considered for a moment, thinking about her option at that moment. "Beladin. Take us to the dune sea." She said finally. "There's a wreckage field there that we can use to resupply and rebuild our fleet." She then said to Arraesh.

"Confirmed, setting course to the Beladin dune sea, engaging main drive." Jiire said, and the Ashoka began to move again. They backed up almost at full speed before taking a moment to turn around and continuing their escape, moving at best possible speed. What few ships of theirs were still alive followed them out. The greater speed of the Gaalsien fleet units soon allowed them to outpace the Coalition forces. When they were finally out of reach of enemy retaliations there was a collective sigh of relief on the command bridge. Yet Khagaan did not share in this sense of relief. She had lost so many units today… in one fell swoop the fleet in her control had been reduced to a shadow of its former self. The machines lost were trivial, those could be replaced given enough time and resources, but the lives lost could never return to their side, and she had lost so many of them…

"Inform the Renza of the developments here, give them our destination and tell them to head for the Beladin region as well and to await further instructions on route. Encrypted communications only. I don't want to have our plans intercepted." Khagaan ordered quietly, tired and saddened by the losses she had suffered today.

"It was not supposed to happen this way…" Khagaan then said, slumping visibly in her chair, her voice on the edge of breaking. "They lied to me. The Arrakesh crew. They told me that the Sakala had been destroyed. They had to know that it wasn't true and they had to know what that carrier might do, and they lied to me anyway. Lied to my face."

"Must have been afraid of the consequences of admitting that they failed." Arraesh commented, clearly disapproving of the decision that the Arrakesh crew had made.

"They know nothing of fear, or of consequences, but I will teach them about both." Khagaan said, anger now replacing the grief in her voice.

"Captain-defender Arraesh, I have a mission for you to undertake." Khagaan continued, her voice now alive with a cold rage. "You will go through our records, our communications, and you will find each and every one of the officers and crewmen who were responsible for the false information that led to today's disaster. One your investigation is complete, you will contact these people and tell them that I hold them personally responsible for **every** life we lost in the battle today, and **every** life claimed by the command carrier Sakala or its accompanying fleet from this point forward. You will then dispatch a courier for my father with a report detailing what happened here today, why and because of whom, along with my personal recommendation for the immediate arrest, court-martial and execution of these individuals on charges of incompetence, deliberate sabotage of battlefield strategy and endangering the primary mission objectives of my task force through supplying deliberately falsified information.

"Gladly, Lady-Protector" Arraesh answered with a grim voice.


	11. Chapter 11, Sacrifises in the sky

**Chapter 11; Sacrifices in the sky**

"Diagnostics… online and functional within normal operating parameters. Further status reports will be accurate." A soldier named Rovek said into his radio, sitting in the cockpit of his fighter.

"Hull integrity… optimal."

"Fuel status… at capacity."

"Primary engines… check."

"Navigational and landing thrusters… check."

"Primary and secondary flaps… check."

"Life-support systems… check."

"Scanner systems… check."

"Flight control systems… check."

"Weapons… loaded and operational. Weapon controls are responsive."

"Mission folder… viewed and understood. Sky 3-1 ready to launch flight control." He reported finally.

"Flight control copies. Check and report status of other squadron members." Came the response. Accordingly Rovek addressed the other two members of his squadron, asking for their status.

"Sky 3-2 ready to launch" Answered the first, Ekenth.

"Sky 3-3 ready." Said the third, Deavae.

Rovek nodded to himself before reporting the situation to his superiors in flight control: "All members of Sky 3 squadron reporting ready. Requesting permission to launch.

"Launch permission granted for immediate takeoff, good luck out there." Flight control answered after a short pause as they checked that the airspace was clear of hostile units one last time. With the launch permission order now granted, interceptor squadron Sky 3 set off on its mission, emerging from the red gloom of the carrier's main hold into the brightness of the midday desert. After a few moments of straight flight in a perfect triangular formation they turned left and headed for their objective, the Sakala command carrier. The Gaalsien and Siidim had been exchanging air raids for the past several days, with the Kapisi apparently lagging behind, out of attack range. One side attacked, then the other retaliated, and on and on went the almost poetic cycle of vengeance, both sides tearing at each other as they made their way to the Beladin dune sea. Only twenty minutes before they sad set off on their mission the Ashoka crews had repelled a force of Siidim fighters. Now it was their turn again to hit their enemy.

"Sir, I have been meaning to ask, has there been word on the Renza?" Deavae asked as they were flying to their target.

"No, nothing new for the time being. Bit weird to be honest but hey, when have they ever told us grunts anything? I suppose if something happens that we need to know they'll tell us **then**. For now I think the best course of action is to just do what they sent us out here to do. **That** part at least was fairly clear."

"That being the part where they told us to go out there, smack them in the head a bit, then go home and wait for them to do the same to us, repeat as necessary?" Deavae asked in jest.

"Yup. Glad you read the mission folder, Sky 3-3" Rovek answered sarcastically, causing Deavae to laugh on her end of the radio.

"Well, if you ask me they probably have just gotten lost and managed to break their radio in the bargain. Might as well have right? At least that's what I'm hoping has happened. Let's just say that I don't fancy any of the other possibilities that might be the explanation, not with there currently being two baddie fleets against our one." Ekenth said, joining the conversation.

"I wouldn't worry. The Lady-Protector will figure it out. She has before. Pretty smart woman that one." Deavae replied.

"Yeah, it's something else I'm hoping will be the case. Just seems bad at the moment." Ekenth said, trying to sound optimistic but failing to sound entirely convinced. Meanwhile, Rovek had been watching his instrumentation, comparing their current location with the area given to them in their mission folders.

"Were getting close to the mission area. The Sakala should be somewhere around this area, so be ready. Essential coms only from this point forward. Get low, beneath their air sensors. Low, as in hug the dunes, ok?" He told his squad.

"Roger zero-one." The other members of his squadron gave their acknowledgement in their turn. And so they advanced, their path following the shapes of the dunes as their eyes and sensors were seeking out their enemies.

"Enemy carrier spotted to our left." Ekenth announced after several moments in flight. And true enough, there it was, the huge bulk of the Sakala, crawling amongst the sands, raising up huge plumes of dust as it advanced. Around the massive bulk of the carrier, the smaller ships of the enemy fleet swarmed.

"Assume attack formation, arm weapons." Rovek commanded as they turned towards their targets as one, approaching the carrier's front. The enemy had clearly already noticed their presence and had begun to respond. Fortunately they were approaching at such a low angle that the carrier could not target their anti-air missiles at them, but that did not prevent the enemy from using other guns at their disposal against them.

"Watch that incoming fire! Stay low and continue to take evasive actions! Press to attack range!" Rovek ordered as streams of fire were directed at them from the two machine cannons near the nose of the Siidim carrier, the shells impacting the dunes around them. Other enemy ships were firing at them as well, intensifying the storm of fire even further. Now and then the enemy anti-air ships sent blue tailed missiles flying at them, which they evaded or redirected safely away from them using their onboard countermeasure systems. Despite this impressive display of firepower being thrown at them, the Gaalsien fighter squadron managed to keep advancing, pressing ever closer to their intended target. As they were on the final leg of their approach before their main attack run, Rovek spotted movement on the upper deck of the enemy carrier.

"Enemy is deploying strike fighters. Prioritize these targets." He told his crew, recognizing the very real threat that enemy strike craft presented in this situation.

They climbed slightly higher as they advanced so as to not smash themselves on the carrier they were attacking, arming the missiles they were carrying at the same time. Rovek selected one of the enemy fighters, telling his computer to target it. His computer not only targeted the fighter he had chosen, but also calculated the optimal placement for the missiles he had armed and even negotiated with the other computers of his squadron, ensuring effective target distribution.

"Locking on… firing!" Rovek shouted into his radio as a trio of missiles erupted from the underside of his fighter his two wingmen following suit. Moments later the front section of the carrier's flight deck erupted in a storm of explosions, catching the enemy strike fighters within it. The next thing they knew they passed through the smoke their exploding missiles had created and were racing across the length of the carrier, the deck plating swirling past less than ten meters beneath them. Glancing to his side he could just make out blurry figures behind windows seeking cover as they passed them by far too close for comfort, flashing in and out of his field of vision in an instant. It all lasted only a few moments, and then he was in the clear, emerging into the open air. He turned sharply to the right, heading away from the Sakala. As before he tried to stay as low as possible to give less of a target to the enemy. The enemy gunners were ready for him and a fresh volley of incoming fire swarmed after him. Twisting, dodging and evading he nonetheless managed to make his way out, finally managing to make his into a relatively safe spot of cover. Throughout this all he did not have a clear picture where his other squadron members were. He simply had to rely on their skills and trust them to keep themselves safe, as he had done with himself. Fortunately this was not the first time they had done this maneuver before. As soon as he was in the clear he called to the other members of his squadron, asking for their status.

"Sky 3-2 still flying. By Sajuuk, that stunt is never going to get any less scary is it?" Ekenth replied, his voice a mixture of excitement and being frightened.

"Sky 3-3 is all good, and I beg to differ. That was incredible fun! Should we do it again?" Deavae answered, practically giggling.

Rovek laughed at Deavae's comment. "No, I think once a day is enough. Let's set course for home. Good work everyone." He said. Just then an alarm caught his attention. He checked his instruments and saw the alert type: A missile, locked on his fighter and closing in.

"Hostile missile in flight! Look out!" he shouted, breaking formation and turning sharply to the left, passing just over Ekenth's fighter. His sudden maneuver saved his life, as just then the missile he had detected passed through the air and slammed into the ground as it tried to turn to follow his fighter. As it impacted the ground the missile went off the shockwave rocking his fighter, nearly making him lose control and crash into the groung. Nonetheless he escaped unharmed. His squad likewise survived, breaking formation and scattering in all directions.

"Fucking damn it, where did that come from?" Deavae cursed.

"Not sure, hold on." Rovek answered, checking his radar, searching for a possible origin source of the missile. Already he believed that a surface-to-air missile was an unlikely option. They were still flying so low it was not really possible for the enemy to lock onto them with such missiles. That left only two other options: One, a desperate shot with a surface-to-surface missile fired at their general location, also unlikely since the missile had seemed far more accurate than that. Two, an air- to-air missile launched by an aircraft they had missed. Still unexpected, since the airspace **had** been clear when the begun their attack, but more feasible than the other possibilities. And so he stared at his radar display, his eyes intently seeking sensor contacts other than theirs. It was then he saw it: A single enemy contact flashing in and out of his screen, likely indicating that the target was moving low, travelling between dunes as their own squadron was. The said contact was moving towards their position with great speed, moving too fast to be anything else than a strike fighter (as if the missile just fired at then was not evidence enough.), coming from the direction of the Sakala.

"Incoming enemy aircraft! I think one of the enemy strike fighters survived our attack!" Rovek shouted to his squadmates, alerting them to the danger.

"I see it, four o'clock. Deavae look out, I think it's coming after you!" Ekenth said in warning, and indeed the lone coalition fighter was charging straight at Deavae's interceptor with clear intent of murder.

"Perfect, isn't that just my luck." Deavae commented sarcastically. "Ok, thanks for the tip, taking action!" she added hastily, already moving to avoid the enemy fighter. Several moments of frantic dodging maneuvering followed as the enemy tried to chase Deavae down, firing another missile as it went that she avoided only barely by firing off a countermeasure.

"Uh, if it's not too much to ask, could you gentlemen help a girl out and get this idiot off me? I could really use the help. As in right now." Deavae asked, sounding understandably nervous.

"Ekenth, can you intercept?" Rovek asked, checking his own situation at the same time.

"No can do sir, I've no more missiles left." Ekenth answered.

"Allright then, I'll handle this, I still have one missile. You get yourself home, you've done everything you can here." Rovek told him.

"Understood. Sorry, sir." Rovek answered, regret in his voice.

"It's all right, nothing you could do anyway. Now go on." Rovek replied.

With that they went their separate ways, Ekenth moving to leave the battlefield and Rovek turning to go after the coalition fighter still chasing after Deavae. And so an intense chase of pursuing the pursuer ensued, the coalition pilot stubbornly refusing to break off from the pursuit of his target to evade Rovek's pursuit. Rovek tried several times to lock on with his one remaining missile each attempt failing because of a sudden maneuver made by the enemy fighter as it responded to Deavae's movements.

"Damn it, stay still for a moment Deavae, I need to get a clear shot!" Rovek spat as he once again failed to acquire lock.

"Stay still!? Are you completely mad!? How am I going to do that!? This is hard enough as it is without someone making stupid suggestions!" Deavae rebuked, sounding panicky. "Shit… can't navigate well enough down here. I have to get some altitude, get into open air." she added then, beginning to ascend at a steep angle.

"No, no, no, wait! We're still within range of the ground launchers. Go up and we'll have AA missiles up our asses in no time!" Shouted in warning.

"WELL I DON'T HAVE CHOICE HERE DO I!? I STAY PUT AND I'M DEAD!" Deavae screamed, continuing to climb ever higher.

"By Sajuuk…" Rovek exclaimed, cursing Deavae in his mind for not listening. He continued to follow the coalition flyer, beginning the targeting procedure again. He was waiting for the missile to finish locking on when the missile alert on his console sounded off again, indicating a missile had been fired at him from the ground. Rovek's hand moved a fraction on the controls of his fighter, his instincts reacting to move himself to evade the incoming missile. Then he stopped himself. Deavae was doing her best to keep out of the line of fire but that could only last so long. Without his help she likely only had moments left to live. If he turned away now she was dead for sure. He had to make a choice: Either leave Deavae to die or take a risk with the missile currently charging toward him.

Despite his every instinct screaming for him to do otherwise, he kept his course, waiting for the missile lock on to be established. The process was usually a quick one, designed that way due to obvious necessities. Right now though it felt like lock-on was taking a lifetime to accomplish, the moment made incredibly pressing by the missile he was watching crawl ever closer to his position on the scanner display, the number indicating the distance from him shrinking at an alarming rate:

600 meters… 500… 400….

"Come on, come on, get it done…" Rovek grumbled at his computer, nervous sweat gathering on his brow.

…300…200…100…

"COME ON YOU PIECE OF SHIT MACHINE! DO IT!" He shouted in frustration.

Just as the enemy missile passed the 50 meters mark the red target hovering over the enemy fighter on his windshield turned green, indicating that lock on had finally been achieved. Several things happened at once then. Rovek fired his one remaining missile. Being very close to the enemy fighter at that moment, his missile reached its target almost instantly, disappearing inside one of the main thrusters of the enemy fighter. A flash of light later and the enemy fighter was gone, transformed into blackened metal fragments falling from the sky. Rovek immediately took the chance to turn his fighter in a sharp angle, firing off a countermeasure as he did. Then a blast of force struck his fighter, knocking him off course and sending him into an uncontrolled spiral towards the ground as all systems in the cockpit were turned off. Rovek fought frantically to restore power to his fighter, the ground drawing closer with an alarming rate. Finally the lights in the cockpit lit up again, and Rovek pulled his control stick back, the nose of his fighter beginning to rise, the forces of his maneuver pressing him against his seat. He managed to pull up just in time, the nose of his fighter lifting off a cloud of dust, momentarily blinding him and forcing him to fly on instruments alone.

"Holy… thanks for the rescue sir. Sorry if things got a little heated there, I was freaking out. Are you all right? Looked pretty bad there for a moment." Deavae asked when Rovek was in the clear again.

"Still checking, so far the damage seems to be mostly superficial." Rovek replied. "I think I got away with a scare. Guess that makes two of us, eh?" he continued. Then his smile died on his lips: "Oh shit…"

"What? What is it?" Deavae asked, alarmed at his tone.

"Most of my fuel is gone, and what's left is draining far faster than it should be. I think I have a ruptured fuel tank." Rovek said, the realization sinking in as he spoke.

"Will you be able to make it back home?" Deavae asked.

"I don't think so. The way I'm losing fuel I think I'll only be flying a few more minutes." Calm resignation settling into his voice as he understood the reality of the situation.

"Then… eject sir, get out of there, do it!" Deavae shouted.

"And go off to a slow death in the desert? Or face capture by the Siidim? No thanks." Rovek said, giving a joyless chuckle.

"Sir, capture must be preferable to dying, surely!?" Deavae argued.

"You obviously do not know the Siidim very well." Rovek commented dryly. "No, I think I will go out with a bit of a bang myself." He then said, beginning to change the course of his fighter.

"With a bang? What are you talking about? Wait a minute… you can't possibly mean to… no, no! There has to be some other way. Something!" Deavae said, her voice becoming pleading as she realized what Rovek was about to do.

"There isn't, at least none that I'm willing to choose. This is how it has to be." Rovek replied calmly, all fear gone from his voice.

"Sajuuk's mercy… this happened because of me. If didn't have to interfere to save me… It's my fault. All of it." Deavae said, realizing there was no way to change Rovek's mind, her voice breking as she spoke.

"Nonsense. This happened because I made a choice, and now I'm about to make another. The best thing for you to do now is to make good on my first choice and go home. My last order to you is that you forgive yourself for this, because in Sajuuk's name if you keep blaming yourself I'll find some way to come back and haunt you. Now get going. Goodbye.

Rovek turned off his radio before Deavae was able to say anything else, unwilling to continue arguing about a decision he had already made. Instead he turned his attention back to the matter at hand. He was now flying at full speed towards the enemy carrier, the monstrous machine growing larger and larger in his field of vision. He considered ramming the command bridge until the enemy presented an even better target: an enemy bomber emerged onto the main command deck, no doubt intending to attack the Ashoka in retaliation. If he destroyed that bomber not only could he save many lives by stopping the attack from taking place, but the bombs the enemy flier was carrying could help him do a lot more damage as well. It seemed that the enemy had not yet realized what he was going to do, otherwise they would not have provided such a perfect target for him. As he began his approach AA –fire began once again to fly at him. He used the last of his countermeasures to evade a missile they were trying to shoot him down with. Only moments later his fuel finally ran out, leaving him into a freefall towards the carrier. No turning back now.

"Come on you sons of bitches! Let's how you like this!" Rovek shouted at the top of his lungs as the enemy carrier filled his view.

With a final scream of defiance he struck home, crashing onto the top of the bomber. The force of impact set off the bombs the enemy was carrying, and the resulting explosion promptly cleaved the bomber in two, the larger piece tumbling off the side of the carrier and onto the ground. The section of hull where the explosion happened was left scarred and pitted, the lift for raising bombers to the launch deck disabled for the time being. Shrapnel from the explosion was scattered in all directions. Such shrapnel would have caused terrible carnage among deck crews, had any been present at the time. Sadly desert conditions ensured that the upper deck was devoid of life. Nonetheless the pieces of metal flying with hurricane force embedded themselves all over the flight deck and command bridge, cracking the fortified windows there. One such piece even managed to break its way inside command center and impale itself on the commander's chair, only inches away from the head of captain Mashad.

Rovek would never learn how close he had come to killing the Siidim commander.


	12. Chapter 12,Plans, doubts and rumination

**Chapter 12; Plans, doubts and ruminations**

"These exchanges of airstrikes between us the Sakala have reduced our airstrength to almost nothing. We're definitely going to need the reinforcements you talked to me about." Arresh commented as he and Khagaan were making their way to the main conference room for another briefing.

"It will complicate things that's for sure, but that has sort of been our trend on this mission has it not?" Khagaan replied. "Was it all worth it, in your opinion?" She asked then.

"Hard to say. I mean, we did do a decent amount of damage to the enemy, but we received a fair amount of damage ourselves. Then again had we not fought back we might have suffered even more damage ourselves. I'm not sure we had any real choice." Arresh said. "It's never easy justifying losing lives is it?" He asked in contemplation after a few moments.

"Never." Khagaan agreed. "But those people are gone in any case and there nothing we can do to bring them back. Sadly I think we are going to lose a lot more people before this is all over."

As they arrived to the door that led to the conference room, they found Kennae already waiting for them.

"Defender Kennae? You're early, the meeting doesn't begin for another half hour." Arresh said, surprised.

"Indeed not, sir. However, there was a priority message a little while ago; an update from the Renza. Given the sensitive nature of the information I felt it necessary to deliver this matter to you in person. I've transcribed the data here." Kennae replied, handing a data slate to Khagaan.

Khagaan and Arresh gave each other a knowing look. This could only be bad news, it was the only reason Kennae might think that this information could not simply be sent to them through their personal radios.

"Very well, return to your post. Dismissed." ´Khagaan said. Kennae saluted and left as Khagaan turned her attention to the slate she had been given. "Dammit." Khagaan breathed as her eyes scanned on the words written on the slate, taking in their meaning.

"What is it? What has happened?" Arraesh asked, concern in his voice.

Khagaan took a deep breath. "It seems the Renza and its fleet ran across a force of Khaaneph, hiding in the storm like those vermin tend to do. Renza managed to win the fight that resulted, but they report heavy casualties. With the casualties they already received from earlier battles and the garrison they had to leave behind they estimate they won't be able to help us until they have had a chance to receive replacements and rebuild their fleet. Essentially they are now in the same situation as we are." She then explained.

Arresh let out a heavy sigh, leaning against the wall. "Well, that certainly throws a wrench in our plans, doesn't it?"

"Yes, I suppose it does at that. Of all the times they could have shown up it, of course they had to hit us when it hurts us most. If it wasn't fact that the Khaaneph don't make alliances even amongst themselves I'd call the timing too good." Khagaan paused before continuing: "I guess our next move is to work these news into our strategy. Good thing we still have time before the meeting starts. And perhaps I should be pleased that at least some of my captains still give me accurate reports. Spares us from all kids of nonsense."

Arraes chuckled. "Thank Sajuuk for small mercies, eh?"

"Yeah." Khagaan said in amused agreement. "Come on, we have work to do." she continued. With that they both entered the conference room, there to adjust their plans to accommodate this latest turn of events. Roughly half hour later they were presenting those very plans to the rest of their command crew:

"You know the situation that we are in." Khagaan said. "Due to recent battles our fleet assets have been severely reduced and the carrier itself has sustained some structural damage, and furthermore the Renza is more or less in the same situation. We will need new ships and crews to man them. To that end we are now heading to a large debris field of artefact wreckage, where we will rebuild our assets and acquire new technologies for the upcoming fight."

"And where will the Renza be during all this?" Jiire asked from her seat.

"Since there are not enough resources for two depleted carrier fleets where we are headed, the Renza will head to a second resource location in the Garaaki highlands. I don't like it, but we don't have many options. This fight can only be won if both fleets are at peak. As soon as either carrier has finished rebuilding they are to rally with the other and join forces, as I have instructed." Khagaan replied before continuing.

"We will need fresh bodies to man the vehicles we build, as well as immediate fleet units reinforcing us to give us a fighting chance in case the enemy manages to engage us before we are finished recovering. To get these things I have contacted Harvest base, requesting crews and ships. Kennae tells me that they have already replied to our request and will be providing what we need, including new interceptors they will send out as soon as possible."

"Pardon me lady-protector, but it seems to me that there is some risk to this strategy." R'kath spoke up. "With most of our military fighting up North, Harvest base is already undermanned. These reinforcements we have called could leave them vulnerable to attack. Having coordinated reinforcements leaves a trail, a trail that enemy intelligence might find despite our efforts to hide this information. If that happens and the enemy finds the location of Harvest base while we have just left them open… well…"

"That problem will only come into play if we lose, which I certainly don't intend to do. Harvest base is also very well fortified, they won't fall easily." Khagaan countered. "But you are right, it's a risk, a risk I believe we must take if we are to have any chance of winning."

Khagaan gave a sigh as she moved to the next topic: "This brings us to the second part of this briefing. The fact is that this situation has turned into a very high risk scenario. There is a very real chance that the Coalition force will succeed in defeating both carriers of our task force in this region of engagement, leaving their path open to enter Dhaigren. Captain-defender Arraesh and I have therefore prepared a contingency strategy should the worst come to pass."

Khagaan turned to Arraesh, who began to speak:

"Before this briefing began, we made certain calculations. Based on the detours and engagements the Kapisi has undergone, it is our conclusion that the enemy carrier is likely running low on certain perishable supplies like water, food and fuel, and will be requiring resupply fairly soon. Estimating the supply situation of the Sakala is more complicated, since we do not have full knowledge of their travel path, but odds are good that they too will wish to take on additional supplies before pressing forward to the final leg of their journey. With the Coalition supply lines hundreds of kilometers away, the only way they can bring in supplies in sufficiently large numbers is to airlift them with one or more of their landers."

Arraesh pointed to a region of the map illuminated on the table, zooming in on the location: "Obviously the enemy does not have an artificial airstrip this far behind our lines. There is, however, a natural formation that might serve their needs: the Khashar plateau, here, conveniently located along the shortest path between here and the entrance to Dhaigren. Before the enemy can reach the Khashar plateau, they must pass through the Garaaki highlands and the canyon known as the Whispering Gallery, both of which are excellent defensive locations for our side to hold. Our estimations are that unless this resupply effort can take place, one or both of the enemy carriers will be unable to complete their mission. We have therefore designed our contingency strategy around these estimations."

Khagaan spoke up next:

"Now that we're back in our own territories, we have been able to link ourselves back into our communications network. Consequently I have been in communication with our kiith-Sa, explaining our current situation and outlining our upcoming strategies. He has promised us two carriers of his elite battlegroup to join us in our efforts: the K'had Sunder and K'had Retribution. If the enemy manages to defeat us and the Renza, the responsibility to hold the Whispering Gallery will fall on them. Their mission will be to destroy the enemy carriers or hold them off so they cannot reach the Khashar plateau."

Khagaan took a pause before continuing:

"Just in case we will also be stationing additional forces on the Khashar plateau itself, with several AA assets available that will destroy the enemy landers if possible. If the enemy against all odds manages to take the plateau, significant reinforcements will be made available for a massive counterattack. Additionally I have ordered the Ashinta to quit their position in the Shining flats and rally with the rest of our forces in the Dhaigren region."

Jiire gave an impressed whistle. "Well, the Faagani are screwed." she said.

"I should certainly hope so." Khagaan replied. "The forces we have committed to this fight at least are more than enough to accomplish such a task. And we don't even have to beat them all the way. All that this gauntlet of forces has to do is deplete the enemy resources to such a point that accomplishing their primary objective becomes totally unfeasible."

"Of course if things had gone as we had planned thus far, we wouldn't even be in this situation." Harkath commented sourly.

Silence fell across the room, every eye directed at Harkath, who looked every inch like he had been caught saying something inappropriately.

"True enough. The enemy has done impressively well considering what they are up against, but Sajuuk willing we'll turn this around yet." Khagaan replied finally, keeping her tone friendly so as to diffuse the situation. Another commander might have interpreted Harkath's words as questioning her judgement, but Khagaan was fairly certain that her sensors officer had not intended insubordination. He was simply expressing his feelings. Harkath seemed very relieved that she had chosen not to take offense.

Arraesh cleared his throat before speaking:

"It should go without saying that the rest of the crew should be notified of our upcoming operations on a need to know basis, particularly in relation to the rather battered state our two fleets are in currently and how difficult our situation is at the moment. The command crew needed to know the full extent of the situation so they could plan ahead. Beyond that there is no need to distract the crew with news that is likely to affect their morale in a very negative way. So use very careful judgement in who you talk about what was discussed at this briefing."

A chorus of nods followed, a serious expression on the face of everyone attending.

"Well, there is a long way to go before we reach our destination, and very little to do before that." Khagaan said next. "I suggest that each of us takes the opportunity to relax when their duties permit, clear their head for the fights to come. When we reach Beladin I wish resourcing operations and rebuilding efforts to commence immediately. Please make all the necessary preparations to ensure that this is possible. Beyond that I have no further instructions until further notice."

With the meeting now concluded people began to stand up and leave. Only Khagaan and Arraesh remained seated. "Well, that went reasonably nicely." Arraesh said after the room had cleared, then standing up to take his leave as well.

"Captain-Defender." Khagaan called after him, and he stopped.

"I was wondering… well, it occurs to me that I haven't had the opportunity to make use of the dueling ring for some time, not since this mess started. As I said, we should all take some time off when possible. I would need a dueling partner and I was wondering if you could indulge me." She asked.

Arraesh smiled. "Of course, Khagaan. I'll meet up with you when I'm able. Wouldn't want to let you skills get too rusty, eh?"

"Hey now, who are you calling rusty? I hasn't been that long." Khaagaan protested in mock annoyance.

"Then consider it a challenge to prove me wrong." Arraesh said, before turning and exiting the room.

"Oh now you've done it. Challenge accepted. Then we shall see who is rusty." Khagaan said, smirking herself.

Sometime later the two of them were facing each other in the dueling ring, a space for crew recreational activities where they could practice the more traditional methods of kharakid warfare. The space was circular and largely unadorned save for the weapon racks. The floor was covered in a shallow layer of sand so as to invoke the feel of an actual battlefield.

For this occasion Khagaan was wearing heavy robes of white that reached down below her knees, the fabric thick enough to deflect blade strikes if need be. Her chest, shoulders and her legs below the knee were protected by traditional armor made of painted black scales. On her head she had a helmet with a face plate that left only her eyes and the upper half of her nose exposed. As her weapons she was wielding a curved saber and a Seejur shield with its trio of spikes on the outer rim of the shield. Arraesh was currently dressed in the same manner as Khagaan except for the fact that his garb was in contrasting colors to hers: Black robes and white scale armor. Arraesh was wielding his favorite weapon, the Jiifara: a staff roughly as tall as he was with a blade on either end.

Arresh wielded his weapon in a quick, spinning motion, the blades impacting against Khagaan's shield in with a monotonous clack-clack-clack sound. In the ancient days the Jiifara was meant to be wielded by the Kiith's best fighters after a charge broke the enemy lines to cut down opponents in quick succession so as to finish off the scattered foe. It was a vicious weapon, particularly when wielded with the skill of one like Arraesh. It was easy to lose to such a weapon. All it took was a moment's distraction, a moment spent out of its rhythm. But, as Khagaan had learned long ago, it was also a weapon designed for specific conditions. Its danger lay in its outer edge and speed created by continuous motion. If those advantages could be negated, if the rhythm of its attack could be interrupted…

Khagaan continued to move around the room, circling her opponent, all the while parrying furiously as Arraesh continued his assault, feeling sweat gather on her brow: Parry left-up-down-center-left! Right-left-right-left-left-center! Center-center-up-down-center! On and on his attack continued, never relenting, leaving only fractions of seconds to react to each blow. The duel continued in that fashion for awhile. Then Khagaan spotted her chance as another blow was coming towards her from her left. At the moment the blade of the Jiifara connected with her shield, landing between two spikes, she made a twisting motion with her shield arm and for a moment her opponent's weapon was trapped, pinned between the spikes. It was all the advantage that she needed. Before Arraesh could free himself and recover his position, she took a quick step forward, which brought her past the easy striking range of the Jiifara. Then, with somewhat exaggerated slowness, she brought the edge of her blade to rest against the side of Arraesh's throat. A brief pause followed, before Arraesh conceded defeat, dropping his weapon and raising up his hands, a smile on his lips.

"Well, it looks like two victories for you and two for me." He said, still smiling. "I think that would be a good score to suspend our contest amicably until the next opportunity to duel, don't you think?" he then asked.

"Yes, I suppose we must. Duty calls, as always." Khagaan agreed. "Still, a welcome distraction, as always, and I look forward to the next chance we get. It's **so** refreshing to practice with traditional weapons every now and then. Modern weapons can be so incredibly impersonal. Just press a button and POOF, something else gets vaporized fifteen kilometers away, you and your target likely never even seeing each other. I have a hard time believing that Sajuuk would have meant warfare to be such a soulless affair. You should be able to see and hear your opponent in my opinion, so you can measure their worth and that both sides can face each other with dignity."

"True enough. Still, I wouldn't pit modern and traditional weapons against each other." Arraesh replied.

"No one in their right minds would do that." Khagaan said, laughing. "Even the most traditional-minded of us has had to face facts long ago. There was a reason why we adapted our ways of war even though our kiith loathed to do so: It was the only way to stand up to the powers our enemies had harnessed. It was the only way to not be crushed with ease." she added with a more serious tone.

"Is something wrong? You seem troubled." Khagaan asked as they were putting away their equipment.

"Just dwelling on the big fight to come. It's going to be the decisive one isn't it?" Arraesh said.

Khagaan nodded. "Yeah, it is. For us at least. Win or lose, the next fight will decide how this whole thing will go down for this crew. I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous, but I have faith in Sajuuk. He favors us in this war, and he will grant us the victory we need in the end, I'm certain of it."

"Can we really be so certain of that?" Arraesh asked. "I mean, the Faagani have achieved one outrageous military victory after another lately. It seems implausible that they could accomplish so much in defiance of Sajuuk's will. So can we really be certain their victories are not Sajuuk's will? Perhaps Sajuuk has changed his mind and he favors them now?"

Khagaan was quiet for a long time, considering Arraesh's words. "Be careful. Such notions border on heresy." she said in a serious tone before continuing: "I cannot deny that the Coalition forces have achieved some unexpected successes lately, but I believe that this is but a test. Sajuuk is giving the enemy some victories so we can show our loyalty to him. This way we can prove that we will not turn away from him and his teachings when we are challenged. I doubt his support for the Faagani will last overlong. No, Sajuuk is with us, as he has always been. How could it be otherwise? Why would he give us commandments to live by and then turn away from the one kiith that actually continues to obey them? That would make no sense."

"And how do we know that those commandments really came from him? Where is our proof of that? Can we even prove that he was real enough to be there to give them?" Arraesh asked, almost in challenge.

A shocked silence descended between them, with Khagaan unable to believe what she had just heard. Was this how bad things had gotten? Had things truly become so dire that thoughts such as this had been able to take hold? And to hear it from the mouth of one of her best friends no less.

"That… that actually **is** heresy." she said, her tone one of angered warning.

"Oh come on, Khagaan! You can't tell me that you have never faced doubt! I know you too well! You're too smart **not** to ask questions, even if you somehow manage to find the right answers!" Arraesh exclaimed in response. After a pause to collect his thoughts, he continued: "All our lives, we have lived sure in our beliefs, sure that our way is the right one, sure that Sajuuk watches over us. Yet how do we know any of this? Sajuuk speaks to us no more than any other Kiith, all we have are the books passed to us from so long ago none of us have any chance of having witnessed the events described in those books. So how do we know that those books tell the truth? And in this war Sajuuk should have more cause than ever to interfere on behalf of his faithful. And yet he seems to be silent, no matter what course the war takes. Why?"

His eyes were wide, he was clearly as shocked by his own words as Khagaan was. And yet he could not stop himself, his thoughts spilling out of him in a cascade of words:

"Maybe it is as they say, that rather than acting directly, Sajuuk expresses his will in the actions he inspires in us who serve him, I don't know. That's the point isn't it? We can't know. We can only have faith. And yet… what if the Faagani are right? What if they've always been right and we have always been wrong? We have no proof either way. You can't stand there and tell me you have never asked these questions." he said, his voice gradually becoming almost pleading as he spoke. It was then that Khagaan understood that Arraesh was asking for her help, help to answer the questions he knew he should not ask, but that refused to leave him, depriving him from his peace of mind. He was asking for her to be the one truthspeaker he dared approach. He believed her faith was the stronger, strong enough to calm the storm within his soul where none other could. Yet he could not know what those very questioned caused to her in return.

Khagaan was quiet for a very long time. She knew that she should be angry, indignant at such a blatant display of heresy, a part of her even wanted to. It would be the simple thing to do. Yet she found herself unable to do so. Something in Arraesh's words touched something within her, reminding her of thoughts she had exiled so far from her mind that she could not even recall those thoughts with clarity, such was her conditioning to do so.

"You're right… I have had such moments of doubt… a few times in my life. Perhaps such thoughts are inevitable, I don't know." Khagaan said finally, bowing her head in a pained, shamed admission.

"But the terrible truth is that we have gone too far and done too much not to believe." She said with renewed determination, tears streaming from her eyes. "We have done terrible things, I and our kiith, all across the history we know. There has only ever been one way we have justified these things we do: our faith, our unconditional conviction that we obey the will of our creator, that the horrors we inflict serve a greater purpose. If Sajuuk turns out not to be real, then our justification is gone. Then we have been monsters the entire time. Worse, if we are wrong, then everything we know, everything we have believed, our entire history and everything we are and have been is a lie. Then everything about us has been for nothing. I would rather die a thousand painful deaths in the service of my faith and my kiith than let that ….void be our only legacy. I'll risk being deluded if the alternative is something that horrid, and I expect the same of any person that dares to claim to stand with me."

Arraesh did not respond immediately, being deep in thought, considering her words. Khagaan could not be entirely sure what effect her words had had, although Arraesh seemed somewhat less troubled than he had been a moment ago. Finally he took a deep breath to collect himself, and nodded gravely.

"Then that is how it must be. For all of us." He said, then made to leave.

"Arraesh." Khagaan called after him.

"It's best that we keep this conversation between each other. I know why you asked. I know that you are no heretic. You had a crisis of faith and you needed someone to solve it for you. I can understand that, and forgive unwise thoughts voiced during such a state of mind. Truthspeaker Deravis… won't be as understanding. He is a good man, a good Truthspeaker, but his faith is one of absolutes, a world of black and white. He has absolutely no sense for nuances in these matters. If he were to discover the subject of our conversation today, he will only react one way, and neither of us will like the results." Khagaan took a pause before continuing: "Also, preferably we will not need to discuss this subject ever again. Once was enough, hopefully for both of us."

Arraesh nodded again, this time to confirm his understanding and agreement. He then left, leaving Khagaan alone in her thoughts.

"Soon." she told herself. "Soon this will be over, one way or another, and then there will be no more doubts."

And nothing more to fear…


	13. Chapter 13, Her final address

**Chapter 13; Her final address**

They had arrived, and the work had begun.

Upon arriving at their destination, Khagaan had discovered the reinforcements from Harvest Base already waiting for them, with the exception of the air units that were not quite ready as of yet. Those too would be deployed to her as soon as possible. She had wasted no time in forming the bulk of the ready reinforcements into a large combat patrol force to protect the rest of her fleet, keeping only a detachment of anti-air units for her own carrier. Replacement crews were distributed between the Ashoka and the available production to be ready to man fleet units as they were produced. As soon as they had arrived Khagaan had committed her salvager units to breaking down and harvesting the artefact wreckage strewn all across the valley while those of her forces capable of unit production were churning out fresh fleet assets as fast as possible. Time was of the essence now. Every minute spent working meant they were that much closer to being ready to leave and regroup with their fellows. Each new ship produced was one more she could commit to the battle should the enemy carriers manage to engage them before they had had time to finish. One of the first things they had managed to accomplish since their arrival was to finish the repairs to their EMP weapon. The weapon was now operational and ready to fire on demand. This already made Khagaan a bit more confident about the battle she was sure was coming. It was good to have a weapon of such potency in their arsenal. It would certainly be needed.

It was around midday, as Khagaan was intently studying their fleet inventory and ship registry, monitoring their progress, that things started happening.

"Lady-Protector, I'm detecting a hostile class two contact at the extremity of our sensor range, north of our current position and approaching. ID systems indicate it's the Sakala." Harkath reported from his station.

"Here they come…" Khagaan said to herself. "And the Kapisi, where is it located?" she asked next.

"Nowhere within our sensor range currently. All I'm getting is the Sakala." Harkath replied.

"Curious… what are they up to?" Khagaan wondered, frowning. She was not exactly a fan of having an entire enemy carrier fleet unaccounted for.

"This might well be the beginnings of a pincer movement." Arraesh offered.

"You could be right." Khagaan agreed. "If so then we can't afford to be caught in between. We have to move forward and engage, drive them off."

Khagaan considered as another possibility occurred to her: "Although, this might as well be some other kind of trick. Our salvage operations aren't complete so we can't take them with us if we engage the Sakala. They could be trying to pull us apart so they can destroy us in manageable sections."

"We'd best leave a strong rearguard to protect our resourcing operation." Arraesh said, nodding thoughtfully. "If the Kapisi presents a threat, they should be able to hold long enough for us to disengage from fighting the Sakala and regroup our assets. It's risky, but I think it's our best option at the moment."

"Good." Khagaan said turning her attention to the list of her available ships, considering which she should take with her and which to leave here.

"Kennae, relay the following to the fleet: Our currently available locally produced units and the anti-air ships from Harvest Base are to follow us out to engage the Sakala fleet. All other units are to remain here and protect our resourcing and construction efforts. Our production cruisers and salvager are to be defended first and foremost, in that order of priority. I want escorts assigned to each individual cruiser and a large security patrol assembled to be ready to counter any enemy offensives. Production cruisers are to continue manufacturing new units as fast as they are able. And if the Kapisi shows up, tell them to yell and we'll come running."

"Understood, relaying orders." Kennae said.

With that the Gaalsien gathered their forces and set off to face their arch-nemesis once again. As soon as they noticed the Gaalsien approach, the Sakala turned around and retreated. With the security situation with their resources attended to, Khagaan felt confident in ordering a pursuit of the enemy. The possibility of the Siidim leading them to an ambush by the Kapisi did cross her mind as they chased their enemy down. "If that is what they plan, then so be it." She thought to herself. "I will deal with that problem when I encounter it. I won't turn away from this fight because of fears of what the enemy might do."

Eventually the Salkala fleet stopped retreating, regrouping into battle formations and turning to face them. Soon combat exploded all over the battlefield the Faagani had chosen. The Siidim commander was good, and he had the advantage of greater numbers and air superiority besides. For all that he was far too obvious and far too inflexible in his tactics. He relied primarily on direct attack waves of battle-, support- and siege cruisers accompanied by small groups of lighter units for tactical flexibility. Khagaan countered those with several small, quick-moving teams of railguns, attacking from multiple directions so as to prevent a concentrated response from the enemy. If the enemy tried to sortie LAV's to destroy the railguns they could easily retreat to defensive position consisting of a mixture of assault ships and skimmers, whilst anti-air units were scattered amongst all assets to pick off enemy air units. Artillery or air units of her own would have been useful support option in a situation such as this, but sadly she was currently lacking both.

When an assault wave failed, the Siidim retaliated with intense air attacks and cruise missile strikes, causing enough disruption for them to regroup and launch a fresh wave against the Gaalsien. Realizing early on that the enemy was intending to claim victory through attrition, Khagaan did what she could to minimize casualties on her side, taking care not to commit her forces to dangerous spots needlessly. Remembering her earlier experience with cruise missiles from Juno base, she kept her carrier moving around as much as possible with as much power shunted to the engines as possible. For that same reason the rest of her fleet was ordered not to approach the Ashoka unless absolutely necessary. No sense in providing easy targets after all. Sadly these precautions meant that the Ashoka was largely unable to participate in the battle directly, forced to rely on their fleet to carry the day. Fortunately it soon became clear the Siidim were tripping on their own arrogance, as ever. They frequently overextended their assaults, pushing into the Gaalsien line because she allowed it, only to then find themselves cut off from their friends, surrounded and promptly annihilated. Fighting this way the Gaalsien were soon on even footing with their enemy on terms of numbers.

As the battle raged, Khagaan's attention was drawn to the enemy resourcing operation located some distance behind the Sakala, working on a particularly large piece of starship wreckage. The tactical value of this operation was significant, seeing as how the Siidim were aggressively processing the wreckage to produce fresh ships for their fleet. With their attention on the main battle, the enemy had left their resourcing operation largely undefended, with only a handful of units stationed nearby for defense. Apparently the enemy was relying on the Sakala to defend their harvesters, as the carrier was lurking near the main approach to the site. In that, however, they had neglected to watch a smaller passage between nearby cliffs of jagged rock, conveniently shielded from visual detection and even short range scanners if one wasn't paying attention…

"Harkath, do you have strike formation 3 on your sensors?" Khagaan asked, referring to the force she had been slowly sneaking into position, taking advantage of the distraction of their enemy, keeping a keen eye out in case the enemy spotted their attempt.

"Yes, Lady-Protector, they seem to be almost in position." Harkath replied.

"Good, they are on schedule." Khagaan said, nodding. To reduce the chance of being detected, strike formation 3 had been given their orders in advance along with a timetable to follow, and sent out with strict orders to maintain radio silence until they attacked. Until then, they were on their own.

"Any sign the enemy is aware of their presence?" Khagaan asked next.

"Negative." Harkath answered.

"Good, very good." Khagaan looked at the time: "And the attack should be beginning right about… Now!

And true enough, her units moved forward, startling the enemy as a mixture of assault railguns and assault ships suddenly descending on them, guns blazing. Khagaan watched the ensuing battle on her display, seeing the red markers representing enemy units begin to disappear in rapid succession. The actual fight was over before it begun, with the few enemy defenders being wiped out in a matter of seconds. The salvagers and the support cruisers tried to flee, but neither of those ship classes had been designed for speed, and soon they too were overtaken and destroyed. The support cruisers were the last to go, finally succumbing to the relentless heavy fire of the assault railgun. In under two minutes it was all over. A large group of enemy vehicles broke away from the main battle, ready to retaliate. The Sakala too moved in, turning its massive bulk around, heading to repel an offensive already concluded. They were all too late as her units turned around and retreated back the way they had come, their mission concluded in resounding success.

Khagaan smirked.

"Tut, tut, tut, you left your salvagers vulnerable. Careless of you. Now it has cost you your production capabilities in their entirety." Khagaan said, mocking her opponent remorselessly.

It seemed that Sajuuk had an incredible sense of ironic timing, for it was in that very same instant that Kennae gave a rather startled report:

"Lady-Protector I have just received an emergency transmission from our resourcing operation. The Kapisi has appeared in their area and engaged with overwhelming force. Our units report heavy casualties and a rapidly deteriorating situation. They request our assistance immediately."

"Damn." Khagaan said, springing to action immediately after: "Jiire, get us back to our salvaging operation on the double! Command to all units, disengage and head back to the resource operation site! Enemy presence has been identified at target location, so all units are to maintain battle-readiness! I repeat, disengage and return to our resourcing site at once!"

"I knew it! I **knew** they were up to something!" Khagaan cursed as her orders were carried out.

The Gaalsien turned and left with great speed, removing themselves from the clashes they had been fighting only moments ago, firing hasty salvoes at the enemy to dissuade them from following. The enemy nonetheless regrouped and tried to give chase, but the Gaalsien were soon able to outpace them. Treads and wheels were no match to hover technology after all.

"Kennae, we need to keep the enemy from coordinating their response to our redeployment. Is there any way you could disrupt their communications?" Khagaan asked as soon as they were in the clear.

"I could fill the channels we know of with static. It would sever their long range, carrier-to-carrier communications. It won't last and it's unlikely to affect the local channels that operate on separate frequencies, but it's the best I can do." Kennae replied.

"Do it then." Khagaan ordered. "It will buy us more time at least. And keep me updated on the status of our defenders. And contact the interceptors we are supposed to receive, get me an ETA."

"I hope we are not too late to fix this." she added quietly to herself.

Travelling at headlong speed as they were, it did not take them long to reach their original positions. What greeted them there was a grim sight: their entire resourcing operation along with all the defenders committed to them were gone, only wrecks remained. It appeared that not even the considerable forces placed here had not been enough to stop the faagani, not even with the help of the ships they had had time to manufacture. Sitting amidst all this devastation was the huge bulk of the Kapisi and a sizeable Coalition fleet. Additionally the enemy had clearly been busy doing their own resourcing operation, committing further heresies by blasting open sections of artefact wreckage draining many of the remaining useable material in the region. The enemy had massed together and were clearly ready for their arrival. Kennae had apparently been correct in estimating that their attempt to disrupt enemy communications would not be entirely successful. Khagaan could not help but feel a slight sense of dread as she took in the situation.

"Um… Captain-Defender, a tactical recommendation?" she asked Arraesh, talking in a hushed tone so as to not de overheard.

"Is retreat a valid option?" Arraesh asked in reply sounding as concerned as Khagaan was.

"Retreat? To where?" Khagaan asked. "The Sakala can easily move to block our line of retreat now. And even if we got past them, what then? With both our forces depleted the Renza wouldn't fare any better than us, even with our help. And the rest of our forces are not yet in position. We could cause a whole chain of defeats for our side if we flee now."

"What about Harvest base?" Arraesh asked.

"Out of the question." Khagaan said at once. "I won't knowingly subject a base of such importance to the wrath of two large enemy fleets. Not while we have some fight left in us."

Arraesh sighed: "Then it seems we have only one choice. We have to engage and make do with what we have."

Khagaan nodded: "It's not the kind of answer I would have preferred, but it's the only one we can get." "We'll do our best to win this, and if the fighting gets too rough we'll take our chances on the retreat. At the very least we will be able to buy a little more time for our remaining forces to get into position." She decided.

With her mind concluded Khagaan went on to give the commands for the battle: "Command to all units, form up and prepare to engage the enemy. Heavy railgun squads, establish defensive positions on the ridge ahead. Use as many guns as you think you need to lock that approach down. Anti-air squadrons, ensure that the carrier's perimeter is clear of air threats. Any remaining salvage teams, if you can find additional resources, we're going to need every scrap. Everyone else, assemble a heavy strike force and mobilize against the enemy. Move fast and hit hard, unbalance the enemy fleet. Be advised that our reinforcements will be very limited, so avoid unnecessary chances. Our anti-air assets are critical to our defenses and maintaining control of the engagement, so we will be unable to commit them to support your assault. Be on the lookout for enemy air squadrons. Our carrier will serve as your fallback position if necessary."

"Lady-Protector, our air reinforcements just radioed. They estimate that their ETA is ten minutes." Kennae reported.

"Good- Very good." Khagaan said, trying to sound more confident than she was feeling. This was about as bad a situation as a military commander could find herself in. With almost all the resources in the region already collected and only limited materials in their cargo hold, she was essentially left with the forces already on the field. In return the enemy likely had significant resources leaving her badly outnumbered. If that weren't bad enough, there was a second carrier with at least as many ships and resources as the first one. So here she was, leading finite forces against effectively infinite enemies, with nowhere to retreat to. The sheer absurdity of the odds might have struck her as amusing if she hadn't been right at the middle of the said situation. Still, there were still things to be gained and if she played her cards just right her and her crew might still make it out alive. If she could remove even one of the enemy carriers from the fight and then retreat, she could grudgingly call today a victory. It would need some serious risk-taking, but half-measures now would only get them all killed.

"Assault wave formed and ready to deploy." she heard her radio announce.

"Move forward and attack. Make it count." she replied.

It did not take long for her strike force to make contact with the enemy. At first it looked like he forces might just have a chance as they exchanged intense fire with the enemy, downing several opponents. Then the enemy air force arrived. Wave upon wave of fighters arrived, ripping at the Gaalsien force with missile. A pair of bombers also flew over the battlefield, taking out entire squadrons with the bombs they dropped. The intensity of the air assault soon broke the momentum of the Gaalsien offensive, sending them fleeing back towards the carrier, while the Coalition fliers mercilessly hunted down as many of the survivors as they possibly could.

"Anti-air units, move forward and rally with our defensive units, give our retreating forces some cover fire." Khagaan ordered, cursing in her mind the failed offensive. It had been her best chance to turn this around. A few moments later she noticed that the anti-air units were still in their original positons, making no effort to move forward.

"Command to all anti-air call signs, did you receive your orders? Move forward and support our units. Please respond to confirm transmission reception." She asked after she noted the odd behavior of her units, thinking that there had been a failure of communications.

"Anti-air responding. Command, there is a significant risk to the carrier. It's probably best if we stay back and cover the carrier." She heard the reply come in.

"We'll be fine. Now get to work before they destroy the defenses on the ridge." She answered, slightly annoyed that she had to give the same order twice.

"With all due respect, I don't think you appreciate the risk you are taking." The person on the other end of the radio told her, sounding remarkably condescending. "You saw what the enemy air forces were able to do. The carrier cannot be risked against…"

"I decide what the carrier can or cannot risk!" Khagaan interrupted, angry at the other persons tone and unresponsiveness. "And this isn't a discussion! You have been given a direct order and you will carry it out!"

The officer on the other end of the radio practically exploded: "NO! YOU'RE OUT OF CONTROL, GIVING US STUPID ORDERS THAT WILL GET US ALL KILLED! IF WE GO OUT ON THAT RIDGE THEY'LL KILL US TOO, AND YOU SOON AFTER!"

"We'll all die if you don't do your bloody job! For the last time, do as you are told!" Khagaan shouted back. She had heard the tone in the voice that had answered her. She had heard the crippling fear that stood in the way of action, the irrational accusations of a person who had lost control of himself and was looking for scapegoats. It was clear that the squadron commander was panicking, at the worst possible time no less. When she didn't get a reply immediately she decided she had heard enough:

"That's enough, you're relieved! Whoever's second in command there, take charge and execute your orders at once! Do you understand?" She commanded. Instead of a reply she received nothing, not even static. Puzzled, she turned to Kennae for explanation.

"Lady-Protector… they've cut communications." Kennae said in disbelief.

"What the…? The fuck they're playing at!?" Khagaan exclaimed, angry. "Get them back on the line right now! I don't care how you do it." She could not believe what was happening. Sajuuk be her witness, this would be the last time she would ask for help from these Harvest base fools. Such gross incompetence! Why did they have to do this now? Why now, when it mattered most?

Next she contacted her other units: Ridge defenders, fall back to the carrier! There has been a complication, your position is compromised! I repeat, fall back to the carrier!

"It's too late…" Arraesh said quietly, his gaze locked at something outside. Khagaan glanced in the same direction and saw what he meant. The enemy had already noticed the lack of air defenses, and had moved to capitalize on this advantage. On the ridge, a second wave of enemy fliers was attacking her defending units, having already killed many. Those that remained were only now moving to follow her orders, but it was already becoming clear that many of them would not be making it. In moments, the path to attack her carrier was torn wide open.

"Sands…" Khagaan gasped.

"Enemy ground units detected. Enemy assault wave incoming." Harkath reported next.

"Where are my air units?! I need them here yesterday!" Khagaan shouted, anxious.

"According to the last ETA they reported, they should be arriving within our detection range momentarily." Kennae answered.

"Confirmed. Allied air units now entering our sensors range. Vectoring their way towards us." Harkath said.

For the briefest instants Khagaan dared to hope again. With sufficient air assets in her control, she might restore some semblance of control for this situation. Victory no longer seemed likely, but perhaps she might at least arrange a relatively clean getaway for what was left of her fleet. And then Harkath went and snatched that small sliver of hope away:

"Wait a minute… hostile anti-air units on flier approach route! Allied units taking fire, heavy casualties" he shouted his alarm.

"Air squadron! Take evasive action and find alternative route, right now!" Kennae tried to warn them, only to fall deathly silent, apparently because she had received no answer. She tried to ask for a response, sounding more desperate with every word she uttered: "H-hello? Air squadron? Respond, please. Please? Oh no. Oh fuck. I think they're all dead."

"They were waiting for them…" Arraesh said in disbelief. "How could they be waiting for them!? How did they know? How good **are** those sensors of theirs!?"

Before he could say anything else, Harkath spoke up again: "Enemy ground forces engaging our carrier. Orders?"

"F-fire back! Every damn gun we've got! Engineering, transfer power to weapons and armor!" Khagaan ordered hastily. The Ashoka unleashed the full range of its firepower, missiles flying and guns chattering. But the enemy was simply too numerous to be seriously affected. Gun shells and railgun rounds began impacting on their hull, tearing at the armor. The additional power shunted to the active armor layers was helping, but not nearly enough to survive such a volume of fire. Khagaan found herself wishing she still had the long range missile system available. Such a weapon would be invaluable in a situation like this. Alas, no such luck.

Her anti-air units finally responded to the developments of the battlefield, scrambling in a panicked fashion to counter the enemy ground units with whatever means they had available, only to then be promptly gunned down by the enemy. The remaining combat ships of her fleet were wiped out next, then her salvagers. With the airspace now completely clear for the enemy, the hostile interceptors, using their missiles, cleaned the field of the remaining Gaalsien, then turning to add their firepower to the already hellish barrage thrown against the Ashoka. As her carrier began to disintegrate, Khagaan bit her lip, trying to think of a solution. She needed to work fast now, her life and the lives of her remaining crew were likely measured in seconds. "Fire the EMP." She announced her decision.

R'kath tried to protest: "Lady-Protector there are still some allied units on the field, inside the blast radius. If we fire now…"

"FIRE THE FUCKING EMP! NOW!" Khagaan exploded, now utterly frustrated her orders weren't getting through. That had cost her an entire battle, and she was not about to put up with any more of it today.

R'kath nodded hastily and turned a switch to trigger the weapon. An enormous flash of blue light emanated from the carrier, followed by a shockwave of the same color that shut down every machine in its path save the carrier itself. Being in the clear for the moment, Khagaan reacted almost immediately: "Jiire, move us out, take us to the far side of the battlefield and find me another resource cluster. New orders will be given on arrival. R'kath, begin recharge of the EMP weapon."

"Understood, moving out." Jiire replied, and the carrier lurched into motion once again, swaying and lurching as it went as the hover pods struggled to keep them aloft, many of then having been damaged or destroyed only moments before.

"EMP weapon is now recharging." R'kath announced.

As they moved out Khagaan slumped in her chair, feeling a wave of tiredness and desperation wash over her. They were one unit now, and they were in bad shape. Worst of all she didn't have a plan anymore. When she had promised new orders upon arrival, she had lied. She could not see a way out of this. They could not flee, and they definitely could not fight any longer. She had never felt so disgustingly helpless, so unable to control her own destiny.

"Arraesh, please make sure that all data in our computers that could be of value to the enemy is properly destroyed." Khagaan said, closing her eyes. Arraesh said nothing in response, he simply gave her a grim nod, and set to work immediately. Clearly he too understood the reality of the situation.

They didn't get very far before they discovered the Kapisi waiting for them. The two carriers engaged each other as they passed, filling the space between them with shells and flying missiles. It was an almost surreal sight to see these immense mobile fortresses tearing at each other both doing their utmost to kill the other one. Due to the Ashoka's already damaged condition, the Kapisi more or less emerged victorious from this duel of the colossi. The enemy units affected by the EMP had apparently recovered far faster than Khagaan had hoped, for a number of them appeared in pursuit, ripping apart the rear of her carrier with every gun they could bring to bear. It also appeared that the northerners were not done spamming airstrikes, because a new wave of strike fighters emerged from the bowels of the, throwing yet more missiles against the Gaalsien carrier.

Just as they had managed to get past the Faagani carrier, her chief engineer contacted her: "My lady, our main reactor has sustained critical damage and is destabilizing. The automatic systems are getting overwhelmed and the manual mechanisms are either too damaged or destroyed to be engaged. We cannot contain the reactor any longer. A plasma cascade is imminent. I'm sorry ma'am. The ships dead. She's dead. I'm so sorry."

"Don't be. It's not your fault." Khagaan said calmly, tired admission of defeat in her voice. She turned to her second in command: Arraesh, please sound the general evacuation." Next she turned her radio on one last time: "Command to any units remaining on this frequency, disengage and seek to regroup with other allied formations. Avoid contact with the enemy, do not engage, do not engage. I repeat, disengage and retreat to other allied forces."

As the evacuation alarm began sounding all over the ship Khagaan bowed her head. "You should leave, all of you." She said to the crew on the bridge. "I'll stay and ensure that nothing else goes wrong today."

"With all due respect," Arraesh replied "I believe I speak for all of us when I say we are going nowhere."

Khagaan turned her head to look at him. "There's still a chance of survival for the rest of you. The Coalition…" she began to say before she was interrupted by Arraesh:

"If they catch us they'll interrogate us, and none of us are willing to betray our kiith. Given our likely options at the moment I think we'd rather choose the quicker ending."

Khagaan smiled sadly. "While I'm vexed by this continued insubordination, I applaud the bravery of all of you, as well as your loyalty. You are a credit to our kiith. Nevertheless, should any of you have second thoughts, I won't condemn you for it. Leave or stay at your own judgement."

Not one of her crew left their posts. Khagaan smiled again. She was proud of them in this moment, truly she was. This display of loyalty was more than she had any right to expect.

"Well, since you decided to stay and watch the fireworks, - her joke caused a few nervous laughs on the bridge- Kennae, contact the enemy carrier. There is one last thing I want to say to them." she said, setting her grief aside for a moment, adopting her coldest manner and donning her most official face. Then she went on to give her lass address to the enemy, ignoring the fact that her carrier was falling apart all around her:

"You have proved a worthy opponent, but let your joy be tempered with the knowledge that your death is inevitable." She wanted to impress upon them the gravity of their actions, wanted to show the northerners that they had killed a real person of flesh and blood rather than a faceless foe, and so she lowered her hood and took off her helmet, allowing them to see her face for the first and last time, before she spoke again: "There can be no peace on Kharak, so long as your people pursue a path to the stars." Then there was an explosion on the bridge, and the darkness of unconsciousness swallowed her.

Khagaan woke to an insistent mechanical voice in her ear: "Alert. Plasma cascade in progress. Evacuate immediately."

As her senses returned to her she realized that she was sprawled over her console. From the sounds of it she couldn't have been unconscious for very long. For the moment she was still alive, if you could call this life. Every inch of her was hurting, particularly her left arm, twisted as it was into an impossible angle, something white sticking out near the elbow. The air was unbearably hot and growing hotter, fire and smoke everywhere, and in the corner of her eye she saw that there was a blue glow behind her, growing brighter and brighter with every passing moment. As she picked herself up, she realized that her right hand glove was stuck to the surface of her console. She had to forcibly tear her glove away, leaving behind long strings of melting plastic. She was alone on the bridge, everyone else was dead: Arraesh, Jiire, R'kath, Kennae, Harkath, Ziel and all the rest. She could see their bodies all around her, but she didn't want to look at them. She wanted to remember the as they were alive, not as…

"Alert. Plasma cascade in progress. Evacuate immediately." Her console kept repeating, until the heat began to melt the circuitry, the voice becoming distorted and gaining an eerie note before fading away: "Alert. Plasma cascaaade iiiinnnnprrrrggrrsss…."

"I'm sorry. I'm so, so, sorry. Sorry for everything." Khagaan said, tears streaming from her face. She wasn't exactly sure who she was apologizing to. There were so many who she had failed in her last moments. Herself, her crew, her father, her kiith, Sajuuk…. Sands take it, in some ways she had betrayed the Faagani too, by allowing them to continue on their path to self-destruction.

"I'm sorry…." she said as the ends of her hair caught fire and rapidly expanding burns formed on her face, before a tongue of blue light reached her, annihilating her. Moments later the Ashoka came apart, exploding in a huge blue mushroom cloud, leaving behind only several large pieces of her hull on the glassing sand.


	14. Epilogue: The heroes of Beladin

**Chapter 14; epilogue; The heroes of Beladin**

Havaath walked through the corridors of the supercarrier Hand of Sajuuk. He passed by several members of the crew. Some were carrying on as usual, still unaware of recent things that had transpired. The expressions and manner of others revealed that they already knew what the current situation was. Sooner or later the entire ship and the rest of the Kiith would know the facts as well, there was simply no way around that. He walked briskly, until he reached the personal quarters of the Kiith–Sa. After identifying himself with the guard on duty he knocked on the door, and upon hearing the voice of K'had, he entered. He found K'had sitting before the symbol of Sajuuk, likely in meditation. "Honored Kiith-Sa, I have news regarding the war. Havaath spoke to him. "It…you might not…" he then stammered, unsure how to word himself.

"Bad news I presume. Speak up then. There is no escaping Sajuuk's truths, even the unpleasant ones." K'had spoke, without turning to face Havaath.

Havaath gave a nod and a sigh to collect his thoughts. "A great battle took place in the dune sea of Beladin. It seems that the enemy carriers Kapisi and Sakala proved too much for or forces. I'm…afraid that the command carrier Ashoka and the fleet that accompanied it were lost in their entirety. Lady-Protector Khagaan…did not survive. I am extremely sorry, my Kiith-Sa.

K'had did not respond, he simply bowed his head, and remained silent.

"My lord?" Havaath asked cautiously after a long, uncomfortable silence.

"My Sajuuk accept her soul, and the souls of all the heroes of Beladin" K'had said quietly. In that moment he sounded old, like he had the weight of several thousand years on his shoulders. "Do we know how she died?" he asked next.

Havaath shook his head: "We are not certain at this point, but we suspect it was a reactor meltdown of her carrier. It would have been quick, almost instantaneous. I don't know if that helps."

"Death is still death, nothing changes that, but I am relieved that she did not suffer, and I thank you for your compassion."

A long silence followed as Havaath considered how to continue. "There are other news as well." He said finally. "It seems that the offensive against the north is faltering. There are just too many Northerners, and we had to pull away too many forces to chase the enemy expedition force."

"hmmh…dammit." K'had sighed.

"We…our commanders wish to know what we should do next?" Havaath asked. "The enemy may have captured information referring to Harvest base from the database of the Ashoka. If so the enemy is likely to take the opportunity to engage our resource operations there. I have taken the liberty to advice our defenders at this location of this possible threat. Next the enemy is likely to move to try and break through our defenses in the Garaaki highlands and the Whispering Gallery. Our forces will attempt to stop them there. Should we order our unengaged forces to join them? With our flagship and our remaining fleet we should be able to…"

"No." K'had interrupted. Havaath paused, momentarily confused.

"Khagaan has given us the location of Khar-Toba. It is there that we shall find our destiny, where this war can be ended. It is to this place that we shall go with all due haste. And if the enemy survives everything else and is bold enough to follow us, it is there that we shall vanquish them. My daughter has given us the chance we need even in her defeat, and I will not squander it. Too much is at stake." K'had explained with a stern voice that spoke of absolute commitment.

Havaath swallowed and nodded: "I shall relay your orders forward, my lord. Sajuuk's will be done."

Havaath was about to leave, but then paused as he remembered something: "There is one other matter my lord. It seems that our prisoner, Jacob S'jet has managed to escape."

"Escaped? How did he manage such a thing?" K'had asked.

"It seems that he had managed to acquire control of our systems at the base he was held without us getting wind of it. He caused a major disturbance of our security network and slipped away during the chaos. It seems whatever he did also damaged the communication systems of the base, which is why we didn't get word of this until now." Havaath explained. "At this time we are uncertain what information or equipment he might have with him." he then added.

"Does he have a vehicle?" K'had asked next.

"Not to our knowledge my lord. Had he tried to get one he would have likely been caught in the attempt." Havaath answered, shaking his head.

"Then I suspect the matter if of little significance. He was being held literally in the middle of nowhere. He will not survive long unassisted. I doubt he will be able to accomplish much with the time he has left. Still, an unfortunate incident. We might have been able to extract useful information from him given more time. Let us focus on the more immediate matter at hand."

"Very well my lord, I shall see that your orders are carried out." Havaath answered. K'had simply nodded. Sensing that his kiith-Sa still had more to say, so he stood in place, waiting.

"I lost both my daughters to this war." K'had said suddenly, sounding older than he ever had. "Khagaan at Beladin, and of Kristaan we have not heard anything since her unit disappeared, so I have to assume that she too is dead. They were the only thing left of their mother, the woman that I loved. I am alone in the world now, an old man without an heir to name my own. Such dark days. At times like this it is hard to understand Sajuuk's grand designs, even for me."

Havaath listened with an expression of sympathy, but said nothing. He had never seen his Sa like this, not once in the time he had been in his service.

"All I have left now is the path Sajuuk has set before me, the destiny that he has shown me. It is the only way to make any of this suffering worth something, the only way to set any of this right. So we must see this through, no matter the cost. Failure is not an option, not this time."

Havaath nodded severely: "I understand. We shall see it done, may Sajuuk watch over our efforts. I shall notify you the moment our fleet is ready to mobilize. It may take some time however."

"I understand. Now leave me in my thoughts. And tell the others that I do not wish to be disturbed. I require some time alone." K'had replied.

Havaath gave a quick bow and made his way out through the door. He knew why K'had wanted to be alone, even if his Sa never said it. Publically, in front of his people, he had to be strong, cold even. He had to be this way because his people looked upon him and drew their inspiration directly from him. The distress of their Kiith-Sa would become their own, to the detriment of all. Because of this weakness of any kind could not be shown, not even the kind that would normally be expected of a normal human being. It was a terrible thing, this curse of leaders that did not even allow them to be truly human.

Havaath knew that K'had had asked to be alone so he could mourn, away from prying eyes.

So he could cry.

 _ **Later, somewhere else…**_

Nathan S'jet sighed tiredly as he lowered another report from his hands. For several hours now he had been working, sorting out the various records recovered from the wreckage of the Ashoka, searching for bits of useful intelligence. The captain had requested a report by tomorrow morning, and Nathan had no intentions to disappoint. Already he had determined the existence of a Gaalsien military base located somewhere close by, a little more effort and he might be able to discover its precise location as well. The data was only partially available, having been destroyed or deliberately erased. What remained was for the most part heavily encrypted. Nonetheless he was certain get enough results to construct a coherent report with useable intelligence. Despite this he was not even halfway through the various records he had in front of him. Already he could guess that he would have to work through the night to get the report to the level of thoroughness he would be happy to present to the captain and in time for tomorrow. He picked up the next data slate he was to look over, then paused when he realized that this one was somewhat different from the rest. This one was smaller, and where the official data slates typically were decorated only with the Gaalsien insignia, this one had additional decorations of brass filigree lining its outer edges. It had the look of a personal data recorder, perhaps a digital diary or a notebook. Briefly Nathan considered putting the device aside for later. There really were other items of intel to go through, important ones that could contain who knows how many important pieces of information vital to the continuation of their mission. He pressed the button to replay the last recording on the device. And so a woman's voice began to speak:

"Personal log, Lady-Protector Khagaan, defense carrier Ashoka. This…this might be the last entry in this journal, depending how things go tomorrow. These last few days have been so straining, and so many casualties have been sustained that I cannot be certain of the outcome. I suppose that if all goes for the better I will delete this entry, wouldn't be first time that has happened. If all does **not** go well and this recording actually survives then I suppose it's probably a damn northerner listening to this, in which case good for you, I guess you finally managed to get the better of me. I could tell you that you are making a terrible mistake, one that will inevitably doom the people of this planet, but I know you would simply ignore me. I could tell you that others will find the strength to stand against you, but you must know that much already. Whatever else you are, you are not that kind of stupid. By the way if you are looking for intel on this log I'm afraid I must disappoint you, I know better than to blather sensitive information into a personal recording device. Information I cannot give, but bear with me. If you have a moment of patience to spare I might have some reminiscence to share, one warrior to another. Perhaps you will even find a kernel of wisdom that will have value to you. Let's see, what might interest you?"

There was a pause as the speaker considered how to continue. Nathan could not bring himself to shut off the recording.

"It occurs to me that tomorrow this war will be more or less over for me and my crew, either because we will have won and my kiith-Sa will have a clear path to the First City or… well you know. To know such a thing makes me wonder to wonder about what was everything for, why the war happened, what were the reasons it had to be? It occurs to me that this war was first and foremost about convictions. We had ours through our faith, and while I do not pretend to understand the logic of your judgements even on my best days, I know that you too had your own convictions, something that drove you through all this suffering. I don't think you would have been able to do what you have if you did not have something like that. I suspect that in your minds, you must be thinking that you are doing the right thing, even if I and my kiith disagree. My people have certainly challenged you enough that you cannot pretend ignorance of our warnings, even if that was how you started. You can only dismiss them, and to do that there must be something else that drives you, even if it's only arrogance. I have seen how brave you can be at your best, and I have hard time believing that simple arrogance could inspire so much. Even if arrogance lies at the heart of your action, I believe that for some of you at least there must also be something more. I suppose that on some level it is unfortunate that our convictions brought us to blows, but that was how it had to be. The things you have done, they create a risk we cannot tolerate."

Another pause followed as the speaker on the recorder considered her next words.

"I also realize that you seem to have enjoyed unexpected successes in your efforts. Oddly enough Sajuuk seems to favor your arm in this. It is difficult to understand why Sajuuk would allow this. His grand design is often too difficult to understand at times like this. At the moment the standing opinion is that Sajuuk has chosen to test us, to see if we stand by his teachings even faced with great adversity. Despite this, I find that I cannot help but wonder. Could there be more to this, some other reason why Sajuuk would favor you so? I truly cannot say. There are so many things about Sajuuks will we could never understand in a million years of meditation. So I guess you get to congratulate yourself a second time: You have caused me a crisis of faith. I only hope that whoever wins, whoever ends up being right, things will work out for our people, all of our people. I don't want the people of Kharak to die. Even you northerners cannot want that. I trust in Sajuuk to have forged the true path for us all to follow, even if that path turns out to be yours. And if it is yours, then I suppose I forgive you for your actions. All I would ask you in return would be that you forgive me for the deeds that I have done and that you take a moment, however brief it may be, to consider the possibility that my Kiith might be right, at least partially. I beg you to consider the possible consequences if my people are in the right."

Thinking that the woman speaking had finished talking, Nathan raised his finger over the button to turn off the device, only to hear her voice speak up one last time:

"Oh, and one more thing. Be careful around the Siidim. You have no love for us but even you have to admit that we at least are sincere in our convictions and intent. The Siidim have no such graces. They are the undisputed masters of pride and deceit. Their arrogance once made them think themselves better than all the rest of us. Whatever they may claim now that madness has never left them, it has merely been hidden. You may think them your allies, but I have no doubt in my mind that they will betray you the moment it becomes advantageous to them. Their kin have no honor, so there is nothing that would stay their hand. So do not turn your back on them, lest you want their knife to be sunk in it. Consider this a warning offered in good faith, one warrior to another.

I…guess it is all there is to say. May Sajuuk forge for you the righteous path to walk and illuminate it for you to follow. Goodbye."

The recording ended, leaving Nathan pondering about the significance of what had been said. Eventually he went back to work, but even then he could not fully shake the feeling of significance in the words he had heard her speak.


End file.
